KS3 Chemistry Complete Course ECHO Education PDF

Key Stage 3
Welcome to Echo Education
Thank you for purchasing the Echo Education Key Stage 3 Course. This
consists of over 140 lessons split over the three sciences: Biology,
Chemistry and Physics. It covers all of the material in the National Cur-
riculum for Key Stage 3 and, in school, would be covered over a period
of three years from age 11-14 years.
It is formatted in a way that allows you to use it in whichever way best

suits your child/children. Once you have purchased it you are welcome to
use it as many times as you need to within your own family but we re-
spectfully ask you please not to lend/forward/copy the course for other
families or groups.
It is totally up to you how you use the material in the course. You can buy
all the equipment suggested below and use it as a very hands-on and
practical course. However if that does not suit you, we have tried, where
possible, to include YouTube demonstrations of experiments to allow
your child to see them in action. Or you could mix and match- do some
practical work and some by watching the videos.
We have included lots of pictures, videos and practical work to keep the
learning real and fun. Science is exciting and that is reflected in the
course material.
You can focus on one subject at a time or run all three subjects concur-
rently. You can do one lesson a week or one a month or whizz through it
by covering lots of lessons each week. It is totally up to you. All the ma-
terial is here and can be used to fit your child’s learning requirements.
Personally I have used it one subject per school term and revisited it
over a 2-3 year period to reinforce their learning and to build in new con-
cepts.
© Echo Education Key Stage 3 Science Course Page 1 of 5

Key Stage 3
We have included answers to any questions you are asked to pose to

your child and all answers to the end of topic tests. These too are availa-
ble to be used as best suits you and your child and their learning style –
you can set them as a ‘test’ or a fun verbal quiz or just work through
them together. This means you don’t need significant existing science
understanding to teach this course- the content and answers are all pro-
vided.
Each lesson also includes a list of the key terms and spellings that your
child should become familiar with. As much as possible they should ac-
curately learn how to spell these science words.
Once they have completed the key stage 3 course and when you feel
they are ready they can move onto IGCSE science courses. Our website
has all the information about the 2 boards and also the combined sci-
ence course.
All subjects in key stage 3 science can be reinforced and supported by

using the BBC Bitesize website which is available free to all.
There are no set course books to accompany this course as all the con-
tent is provided within each lesson but there are many course books and
revision aids available if you feel your child requires further reinforcement
in any particular area. These can be found for example on Amazon.
Each lesson has a list of suggested resources at the beginning – these

are only ‘suggested’ as all the academic material to learn the information
is provided but it is a really good idea wherever possible for children to
perform practical work to help consolidate their learning. I suggest you
look ahead at the start of each topic to see what equipment you may
need – this may be simple supermarket purchases or more ‘scientifc’
equipment. Any equipment you purchase now will support further work at
IGCSE. We have included a list of resources we have sourced but you
are welcome to pick and choose from that list and resource your own
equipment but we have tried to simplify this task for you.

Key Stage 3
We have made the lessons as practical as possible and have included

different ways of learning different pieces of information – this keeps the
students interested and helps them to learn in lots of different ways.
We hope you and your child/ren love learning science and enjoy these
lessons. We would love to hear feedback from you about which parts
they particularly enjoyed or struggled with.
Warm regards
Clare and Sam

Echo Education
www.echo.education

Key Stage 3
Suggested science equipment purchases

Please note you do not need to buy all these at once – you could
wait and purchase them as you need them as you work through the
course (or add them to birthday and Christmas lists for your child)
Also science equipment can be purchased and shared between
several home educating families. These are just suggested – please
feel free to shop around. These are all useful but not essential. Any-
thing you purchase now will continue to be useful at IGCSE.
1) Microscope e.g Amazon
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Learning-Resources-GeoVision-MicroPro-
Micro-
scope/dp/B0001FPRC0/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1434307786&sr=8-
2&keywords=microscope
2) Chemistry set e.g. Amazon
http://www.amazon.co.uk/CHEMISTRY-CHILDREN-EXPERIMENTS-
ACTION-
SCI-
ENCE/dp/B00BUQBKCU/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1434307943&sr=8-
2&keywords=chemistry+set
3) Resource box: We have asked the science providers ‘Kitchen

Chemistry’ to provide a box of additional resources to save you the has-
sle of sourcing them. They have put together an ‘Echo Education Key
Stage 3’ box available by emailing them directly. The box contains:
125ml Methylated spirits for use in spirit burners

20ml rubbing alcohol
PH paper
125ml Dilute hydrochloric acid

Key Stage 3
125ml 6% hydrogen peroxide solution

Thermometer for test tubes
500g/5N Newton Meter
20g Iron filings

Right angled prism
This costs £26.95 plus p and p. They accept Paypal payment only
Do contact them directly at kitchenchemistry@btinternet.com
4) Electronics kit e.g. Amazon £34
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cambridge-Brainbox-Primary-Plus-
Electron-
ics/dp/B001MJ2F9C/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1434311166&sr=8-
3&keywords=cambridge+brainbox+electronics
5) Magnet set e.g. Amazon £13
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Edu-Science-Educational-Magnet-
Set/dp/B00EIEA63K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1434309473&sr=8-
1&keywords=magnet+set

Key Stage 3 /
Pre-IGCSE
Chemistry Module
© Echo Education 2015

Contents
Pre-IGCSE/Key Stage 3 Chemistry Course
Topics covered by this course:
Chemical Fundamentals:
• States of Matter – Solids, Liquids and Gases
• Diffusion
• Pressure in Gases
• Atoms and Molecules
and Atomic Structure
• Elements and Compounds
• Chemical Reactions
• End of topic questions
Pure and Impure Substances
• Pure substances and mixtures
• Dissolving and making solutions
• Separating Mixtures- filtration
• Separating Mixtures- Evaporation
• Separating Mixtures – Distillation and fractional distillation
• Separating Mixtures - Chromatography
• Testing for purity- Melting and Boiling Points
© Echo Education Chemistry Contents KS3 Page 1 of 3

Contents
Chemical Reactions
• Chemical Equations- Word Equations
• Chemical equations- Symbol Equations and Balancing Equations
• Energy in Chemical Reactions- Exothermic reactions
• Endothermic Reactions and Combustion
• Thermal Decomposition
• Oxidation and Reduction
• The speed of reactions and catalysts
Acids and Alkalis
• Acids and Alkalis and the pH scale
• Universal Indicators
• Reactions of Acids with alkalis
• Reactions of Acids with Metals and how to name salts
• Reactions of acids with metal oxides
• Reactions of acid with metal carbonates
The Periodic Table
• Properties of Metals
• Properties of Non-Metals
• Developing and using the Periodic Table

Contents
• The Structure of the Periodic Table
• Using the Periodic Table to make Predictions
The Reactivity Series
• Constructing a Reactivity Series- reactions with water
• Reactions with Dilute Acids
• Displacement reactions
• Extracting Metals

Acids and Alkalis
Lesson 1: Acids and Alkalis and the pH scale
Today’s Important Spellings:

Acid Universal indicator
Alkali
pH scale
Suggested resources:
• pH paper
• Testing solutions: White vinegar, Water, Dilute bleach, Lemonade,
Lemon juice, Dissolved soda crystals
• Safety goggles
Lesson Contents
We measure whether a solution is an acid, neutral or an alkali using
the pH scale. The pH scale measures how acidic or alkaline (sometimes
called basic) a substance is. The pH scale ranges from 0 to 14. A pH of 7
is neutral. A pH less than 7 is acidic. A pH greater than 7 is alkaline.
Acids always contain hydrogen. Alkalis are usually soluble metal hydrox-
ides.
© Echo Education Chemistry Module KS3 Page 1 of 3

Acids and Alkalis
The most accurate way of measuring pH is to use a PH probe connected

to a computer. The other method involves preparing pH test paper which
is soaked in the indicator, then immersing the paper in the test liquid and
comparing its colour with the standard colour. This method is simple, but
prone to error.
Experiment time!
Set a series of glasses/ramekins/jam jars with the following solutions

and ask your child to test them using pH paper and put them in order
from most acidic to the most alkaline. You can ask them to test any solu-
tion you would like to. Good results are from:
• White vinegar
• Water
• Dilute bleach
• Lemonade
• Lemon juice
• Dissolved soda crystals or bicarbonate of soda
• Soy sauce
• Any other solution they would like to test.

Acids and Alkalis
Method
The method involves using a fresh piece of pH paper for each test. You
tear off a strip of indicator paper and lower into the test solution until it
reaches about half way up the strip. Remove the paper and compare the
colour change with the example on the packet.
Put the acids at one end of the table, neutral in the middle and alkalis on
the right. Then move them around according to the most acidic etc.
You should wear safety goggles when carrying out any experiment.
Rinse immediately if any solution gets onto your skin.
These solutions can all be washed away down the sink after use.
Solutions in order of pH
Ask your child to write the solution and the pH number. The strip can
be dried and sellotaped by the results.

Acids and Alkalis
Lesson 2: Universal Indicator
Today’s Important Spellings: Universal indicator

Acid
Alkali
Neutralisation
• Red cabbage water – chop red cabbage and boil in a saucepan of
water for 10 minutes. Strain and cool the coloured water.
• Testing solutions: Vinegar, Water, Dilute bleach, Lemon juice, Dis-
solved soda crystals, cream of tartar, Antacids etc
• Pipette
• Row of test tubes or small containers (ramekins. glasses or jam
jars)
• Safety goggles
Lesson Contents
Last lesson we looked at measuring pH (how acid or alkaline some-
thing is) using pH paper but it can also be approximately measured using
a universal indicator. There are universal indicators that you can buy but
you can make one by boiling red cabbage and using the coloured water.

Acids and Alkalis
Red cabbage contains a pigment molecule called flavin (an anthocya-

nin). This water-soluble pigment is also found in apple skin, plums, pop-
pies, cornflowers, and grapes.
• Very acidic solutions turn anthocyanin a red colour.
• Neutral solutions result in a purplish colour.
• Alkaline/basic solutions appear greenish-yellow.
• It is therefore possible to determine the pH of a solution based on

the colour it turns anthocyanin pigment sin red cabbage water.
The colours produced using red cabbage water
Experiment time!
Ask your child to test a range of solutions again using the red cab-
bage water. Any powders need to be dissolved in water to make a solu-
tion.
Some solutions to test are:
• Lemon juice
• Dilute bleach
• Baking powder
• Vinegar
• Cream of tartar
• Antacids

Acids and Alkalis
Method
Set up a row of test tubes (or other small containers) and add a little
cabbage water to each one. Now add a sample of each testing solution
to each until a colour change is observed. A pipette is a good tool for
moving the solutions. Use separate containers for each household solu-
tion - you don't want to mix chemicals that don't go well together! Rinse
the pipette in clean water between each sample. Rinse immediately if
any solution gets onto your skin.
You should wear safety goggles when carrying out this experiment. All
these solutions can be disposed of down the drain with water
Now your child should try a neutralisation experiment: first add an

acid like vinegar or lemon juice until a reddish colour is obtained. Then
add baking soda or antacid solution to return the pH to neutral. Try this
the other way – add an alkali and then try to return it to neutral using an
acid. We will be focusing on this in the next lesson. Save some cabbage
water by freezing it in ice cube tray if there is a delay before you plan to
do the next lesson.
Extension activity: you can make pH indicator paper strips from the
red cabbage water. Firstly you need a concentrated solution so boil some
red cabbage water until you have reduced its volume by half. Take filter
paper (or coffee filter) and soak it in the concentrated red cabbage juice
solution. After a few hours, remove the paper and allow it to dry (hang it

Acids and Alkalis
by a clothespin or string). Cut the filter into strips and use them to test
the pH of various solutions. Keep these for use in the next lesson.
There are other indicators that tell you whether something is acidic
or alkaline:
e.g.
Litmus indicator solution turns red in acidic solutions and blue in alka-
line solutions - and it turns purple in neutral solutions.
Litmus paper is usually more reliable, and comes as red litmus paper
and blue litmus paper.
Phenolphthalein is colourless in acids and neutral solutions but bright

pink in alkalis.

Acids and Alkalis
Lesson 3: Reactions of Acids with Alkalis
Today’s Important Spellings: Neutralisation

Concentrated Corrosive
Dilute Hazard
Acids
Alkalis
• Red cabbage water from last lesson (defrosted if you froze it to
store it)
• An acid – dilute hydrochloric acid if you have it or vinegar
• An Alkali – baking soda or antacid solution
• Beakers/test tube
• Pipettes
• Glass rod
Lesson Content
Safety Precautions when using Acids and Alkalis
Acids in the Laboratory
This is the warning label found on dilute acids

Acids and Alkalis
Dilute Acids
In chemistry we will use dilute acids like hydrochloric acid, sulphuric ac-
id or nitric acid. The bottles will be labelled with this irritant label to warn
you that if it makes contact with your skin it can cause your skin to be-
come red and blistered. If you spill any on your skin you must wash it off
with plenty of water.
Concentrated Acids
The warning sign on concentrated acid
We won’t be working with concentrated acids because they are corrosive

– this means they attack metals and destroy your skin if you spilled them.
Reactions of Acids with Alkalis

We can think about acids and alkalis as being chemical opposites. So
together they form a neutral solution as long as the right quantities are
used.
Alkaline solution + an acid = neutral solution
Acidic solution + an alkali = neutral solution
This is called a neutralisation reaction.

Acids and Alkalis
Experiment time!
1. Place some acid solution in a beaker (or test tube)
2. Add a few drops of indicator solution until it turns red
3. Slowly, drop by drop, add alkali to the beaker stirring with a glass
rod. The colour should change to green (neutral)
4. If the indicator changes to purple or blue you have added too much
alkali. This can be rectified by adding a little acid until it turns
green.
5. Once the solution is green you have neutralised the solution.
Explanation
The general word equation for an acid-alkali neutralisation reaction is:
Acid + alkali -> a salt + water
A salt is a chemical that is made when an acid is neutralised.
The most common salt is sodium chloride (which we call salt in every-
day life) but there are many others.
e.g.
hydrochloric acid + potassium hydroxide-> potassium chloride + water
acid + alkali -> salt + water
or
sulfuric acid + sodium hydroxide -> sodium sulfate + water

acid + alkali salt + water
Ask your child to write up what they did and what they have found out
about how to carry out a neutralisation reaction.

Acids and Alkalis
Lesson 4: Reactions of Acids with Metals

and how to name salts
Today’s Important Spellings: Hazard

Concentrated Salt
Dilute
Acid
• Test tube and rack
• Dilute hydrochloric acid
• Magnesium strip
• Bung/cork for test tube
• Splint (wooden skewer)
Lesson Content
Acids in the home
Laboratory acids are far too dangerous to taste, but you will have swal-
lowed some dilute weak acids in everyday life. Acids have a sour taste
like vinegar. These are safe to use in food, but they can still hurt if they
get into a cut or into your eyes.
Common acids you find in your kitchen:
Vinegar contains ethanoic acid

Acids and Alkalis
Lemons contain citric acid.
Carbonic acid in fizzy drinks.
Tannic acid in tea
Ascorbic acid (vitamin C) is found in fruit and vege-

tables.
Reactions of Acids with Metals.

Dilute acids will react with metals that are fairly reactive but not with met-
als such as copper, gold, silver or platinum that are unreactive metals.
When a metal reacts with an acid, you get a salt and hydrogen gas.
Metal + acid = a salt + hydrogen
You will see bubbles of hydrogen gas being produced during the re-
action.

Acids and Alkalis
Experiment time!
1. Place a test tube in a rack and add dilute hydrochloric acid up to
the level of 2cm.
2. Now add a 1cm piece of magnesium ribbon
3. Watch as bubbles are produced during the reaction
4. Place a bung in the top of the test tube to collect the gas produced.
5. To test that the gas is hydrogen you remove the bung an place a lit
splint in the top of the tube top. You will hear a ‘pop’ if the gas is
hydrogen. If you don’t hear the pop you haven’t yet collected
enough hydrogen so replace the bung and try again.
Here you can bubbles of gas being produced.
Learn the test for hydrogen gas:
Hydrogen gives a squeaky pop sound with a burning splint.
Ask your child to write up their experiment with a method, scientific

diagram, results and a conclusion.

Acids and Alkalis
Acids contain hydrogen so hydrogen is released when the acid re-

acts with a metal. To name a salt the metal always goes first followed by
the element in the acid.
Hydrochloric acid gives the product………. ( metal name) chloride
Sulfuric acid gives the product…………..(metal name) sulfate
Nitric acid gives the product………………(metal name) nitrate
e.g.
Hydrochloric acid + Zinc -> Zinc Chloride + Hydrogen
(acid) + (metal) (a salt) + hydrogen
Ask your child to complete these reactions (answers at the end of

the lesson plan)
1) Sulfuric acid + magnesium -> Magnesium …………… + hydrogen
2) Nitric acid + calcium -> …………… nitrate + …………………
Answers:
1) Sulfuric acid + magnesium -> Magnesium sulfate + hydrogen
2) Nitric acid + calcium -> Calcium nitrate + hydrogen

Acids and Alkalis
Lesson 5: Reactions of Acids with Metal

Oxides

Concentrated Salt
Dilute
Acid
• Copper oxide
Lesson Content
Acids can be neutralised by metal oxides as well as metals
themselves.
Metals which have reacted with oxygen become metal oxides e.g. mag-
nesium + oxygen gives magnesium oxide.
Most metal oxides are insoluble in water. The products of these reactions
are the same as for acid-alkali neutralisations – you get a salt + water.
Remember that to name salts you take the name of the metal and the
second part come from the acid:
Hydrochloric acid makes salts that end in chloride
Sulphuric acid makes salts that end in sulfate
Nitric acid makes salts that end in nitrate

Acids and Alkalis
Acid + metal oxide -> a salt + water

e.g.
Hydrochloric acid + copper oxide -> copper chloride + water
Experiment time!
1) Put test tube into rack and add dilute hydrochloric acid up to the
2cm level
2) Add a measure of copper oxide
3) Watch what happens
Copper oxide in hydrochloric acid
or
Watch this YouTube clip to see how copper oxide reacts with hydro-
chloric acid
http://www.echo.education/url/metaloxides
Ask your child to write up their experiment using a method, a dia-

gram, results and conclusion.

Acids and Alkalis
Now ask your child to complete these equations: (answers at end)
1) Sulfuric acid + magnesium oxide -> Magnesium ……... + water
2) Nitric acid + zinc oxide -> ………….. …………….. + ……………
Answers:
3) Sulfuric acid + magnesium oxide -> Magnesium sulfate + water
4) Nitric acid + zinc oxide -> Zinc nitrate + water

Acids and Alkalis
Lesson 6: Reactions of Acids with Metal

Carbonates
Today’s Important Spellings: Salt

Concentrated
Dilute
Acid
• Sodium carbonate
Lesson Introduction:
So far we have learnt that acids can be neutralised by
• Metals
• Metal oxides
And now we will learn that they can be neutralised by metal car-
bonates too.
Acid + metal -> a salt + hydrogen
Acid + metal oxide -> a salt + water
Today we will learn that:
Acid + metal carbonate -> a salt + water + carbon dioxide
Experiment:
1) Put test tube in rack and add 2cm of hydrochloric acid

2) Add a measure of sodium carbonate

Acids and Alkalis
Test for carbon dioxide gas:
If you bubble carbon dioxide through limewater it will turn

milky/cloudy.
Hydrochloric acid + sodium carbonate -> Sodium chloride + water +

carbon dioxide
Ask your child to write up the experiment with method, diagram, results
and conclusion.
Now can they complete these equations? (answers below)

1) Sulfuric acid + copper carbonate -> Iron …………………. + water +………………
2) Nitric acid + calcium carbonate -> …………….+……………+…………….

•

Acids and Alkalis
Answers:
1) Sulfuric acid + copper carbonate -> Iron sulfate + water + carbon dioxide
2) Nitric acid + calcium carbonate -> Calcium nitrate + water + carbon dioxide

Acids and Alkalis
Acids and Alkalis End of Topic Practise

Questions
These practise questions can be presented to your child in any way that
is appropriate – you could do a fun quiz style, a ‘pick a question from a
box type quiz, an oral ‘let’s have a go at these together’ style or as a test
of what they have understood by setting as a ‘test’. It is entirely up to
you. You can use all of the questions or pick and choose. The answers
follow the questions.
1) Calcium nitrate is a salt made by reacting calcium with which acid?
2) Suggest a pH for this acid
3) What is the pH of a neutral solution?
4) What is cabbage water an example of?
5) What would you add to copper oxide to make copper sulfate ?
6) What 2 products would you expect to get from the experiment in

question 5?
7) What colour would pH paper turn in a strong alkaline solution?
8) What would I add to a strong acid to neutralise it?

Acids and Alkalis
9) How would I tell this neutralisation reaction has actually happened?
10) If I reacted magnesium with sulfuric acid what products would

I get?
11) What evidence would I see that showed a reaction was

occurring?
12) How would you test the gas?
13) What does this warning symbol mean?

Acids and Alkalis
14) Complete these sentences:

a) Hydrochloric acid makes salts that end in ………………
b) Nitric acid makes salts that end in …………………….
c) Sulfuric acid make salts that end in ………………………
15) When you bubble carbon dioxide gas through limewater what
would you see?

Acids and Alkalis
Acids and Alkalis End of Topic Practise

Questions
ANSWERS
1) Calcium nitrate is a salt made by reacting calcium with which

acid?
Nitric acid
2) Suggest a pH for this acid

(any answer from pH1-5) pH 3
3) What is the pH of a neutral solution?

pH7
4) What is cabbage water an example of?

A universal indicator
5) What would you add to copper oxide to make copper sulfate ?

Sulfuric acid
6) What 2 products would you expect to get from the experiment in

question 5?
Copper sulfate and water
7) What colour would pH paper turn in a strong alkaline solution?

Purple
8) What would I add to a strong acid to neutralise it?

A strong alkali
9) How would I tell this neutralisation reaction has actually

happened?
Test with an indicator to make sure it is pH7

Acids and Alkalis
10) If I reacted magnesium with sulfuric acid what products would

I get?
Magnesium sulphide and hydrogen
11) What evidence would I see that showed a reaction was

occurring?
Bubbles of gas
12) How would you test the gas?

A lighted splint will cause a pop with hydrogen
13) What does this warning symbol mean?

Corrosive
14) Complete these sentences:

d) Hydrochloric acid makes salts that end in chloride
e) Nitric acid makes salts that end in nitrate
f) Sulfuric acid make salts that end in sulfate
15) When you bubble carbon dioxide gas through limewater what
would you see?
The limewater will turn milky

Chemical Reactions
Lesson 1: Chemical Equations- word

equations

Reactants
Products
Reaction
Lesson Content
In this lesson your child will learn how to
1. Write a chemical reaction in the correct scientific way
2. To be clear about what reactants and products are
3. How to work out the basic products based on the names of the
reactants
A chemical reaction is when atoms of different chemicals (reac-

tants) form bonds and create new chemicals (the products.)
These chemicals bonds are too small to see but there are ways to see
whether a chemical reaction has taken place. Look for:-
• A change of colour
• Energy (heat or light) being produced
• A change in temperature (this could be an increase or a

decrease)
• A smell
• Gas bubbles

Chemical Reactions
Watch this YouTube video to introduce this lesson. It is 12

minutes long and explains everything your child needs to under-
stand about word equations.
http://www.echo.education/url/wordequations
Really important:
• A chemical equation always includes an arrow () and never an

equals sign (=) like in a maths equation.
• Use a plus sign (+) and not the word and
• The chemicals that react with each other are always written on
the left of the arrow and are called reactants
• The chemicals on the right of the arrow are the new chemicals
and are called products
• Never include words like hot, gas, dilute etc in a word equation.
You just write the names of the actual elements and compounds
Sometimes you will need to extract information from a written expla-

nation of the reaction. The best way to do this is to go through the ac-
count and highlight the reactants in one colour and the products in an-
other.
e.g.
Zinc Chloride and hydrogen gas are produced in a reaction between zinc
and hydrochloric acid.
So choose two high lighter colours e.g. yellow for reactants and blue for
products
Zinc Chloride and hydrogen gas are produced in a reaction between zinc
and hydrochloric acid.

Chemical Reactions
It is therefore written as:
Zinc + Hydrochloric acid -> Zinc chloride + Hydrogen
Ask your child to do the same for these examples:
• Highlight the reactants and products in different colours
• Write the word equation using + signs and ->
1) Sodium chloride, water and carbon dioxide are produced in a

reaction between hydrochloric acid and sodium carbonate.
The word equation is:
2) Zinc Nitrate and water are produced in a reaction between nitric

acid and zinc oxide

(answers at the end of the lesson to double check)
Naming Basic Products when a Metal reacts with a Non-

Metal
When we react a metal with a non-metal you always write the metal
out in full and then shorten the non-metal reactant and add –ide
For example:
Magnesium + Oxygen -> Magnesium Oxide
(The metal (magnesium) gets written in full, oxygen is shortened to ox

and then –ide is written on the end.)
Magnesium + Sulfur -> Magnesium Sulfide
Magnesium + Chlorine -> Magnesium Chloride

Chemical Reactions
Just for fun here are amazing chemical reactions on YouTube
http://www.echo.education/url/amazingreactions1
http://www.echo.education/url/amazingreactions2
Answers to word equation examples:
3) Sodium chloride, water and carbon dioxide are produced in a

reaction between hydrochloric acid and sodium carbonate.
• The word equation is:

Sodium carbonate +hydrochloric acid -> sodium chloride + carbon dioxide + water
4) Zinc Nitrate and water are produced in a reaction between nitric

acid and zinc oxide
Nitric acid + zinc oxide -> zinc nitrate + water

Chemical Reactions
Lesson 2: Chemical Equations- Symbol

Equations and Balancing Equations
Today’s Important Spellings: Word equations

State symbols Reactants
Law of conservation Products
Balancing
Lesson Content
Last lesson we looked at writing word equations e.g.
Magnesium + oxygen -> Magnesium Oxide
We looked at the rules for writing word equations:
• A chemical equation always includes an arrow () and never an

equals sign (=) like in a maths equation.
• Use a plus sign (+) and not the word and
• The chemicals that react with each other are always written on
the left of the arrow and are called reactants
• The chemicals on the right of the arrow are the new chemicals
and are called products
• Never include words like hot, gas, dilute etc. in a word equation.
You just write the names of the actual elements and compounds
Scientists often save time and space and instead of writing out the
chemical names in words, they use the chemical symbols and formulae
for elements and compounds.

Chemical Reactions
For example, hydrogen and oxygen react together to form water.
Instead of writing
Hydrogen + Oxygen -> Water
We can write
Sometimes state symbols are included in symbol equations to show

whether the chemical is a solid (s), pure liquid (l), dissolved in water (aq
for aqueous) for gas (g).
e.g.
Mg (s) + HCl (aq) -> MgCl (aq) and Cl 2 (g)
This is a shortened way of writing Magnesium solid is added to a solution

of hydrochloric acid to give Magnesium choride solution and chlorine
gas.
The formula for chlorine is Cl 2 , because the molecules exist of two atoms
(diatomic molecules).This is true for many element gases and your child
needs to be confident with this as early as possible.
Diatomic molecules look like this

Chemical Reactions
You will be expected to know the following formulae:
hydrogen, H 2
water, H 2 O
fluorine, F 2
chlorine, Cl 2
bromine, Br 2
iodine, I 2
oxygen O 2
carbon dioxide CO 2
Balancing Equations
When methane reacts with oxygen we get carbon dioxide and water
Methane + oxygen -> Carbon dioxide + water
The symbol equation is:
CH 4 + O 2 -> CO 2 + H 2 O
BUT we know that the law of conservation says that atoms cannot be
created or destroyed in chemical reactions. We must have the same
number of atoms at the end as we had at the beginning.
This equation is not yet correct because we haven’t balanced it.

Chemical Reactions
At the moment on the left hand side, in the reactants we have:
1 x carbon atom
4 x hydrogen atoms
2 x oxygen atoms
If they can’t be destroyed or lost they must be there at the end in equal
numbers. The products on the right hand side contain:
1 x carbon atom (the same)
2 x hydrogen atoms (different from the 4 we started with)
3 x oxygen atoms ( but we only started with 2)
It is important to balance the equation or it doesn’t make sense. If we left

it as it is here then we have lost hydrogen atoms and gained oxygen
ones and we know that can’t be true.
Watch this YouTube clip on balancing equations and then we will

see how to balance this equation
http://www.echo.education/url/balancingequations
The symbol equation is currently:
CH 4 + O 2 -> CO 2 + H 2 O
On left: On right:
Cx1 Cx1
Hx4 Hx2
Ox2 Ox3
1) The C atoms are the same on each side – they are balanced
2) There are 4 H atoms on the left but only 2 on the right so this is
unbalanced. We must have 4 at the end. To do this we put a big

Chemical Reactions
number 2 in front of H 2 O. This will give us our 4 H atoms BUT it

also increases the number of O atoms on the right
CH 4 + O 2 -> CO 2 + 2H 2 O
Cx1 C x 1 - balanced
Hx4 H x 4 - balanced
Ox2 O x 4 – unbalanced
3) The final step is to balance the number of oxygen atoms. We have
2 on the left but 4 on the right. They have to be there at the
beginning to be there at the end so we need to increase the
number at the start. Oxygen atoms always ‘hang around in pairs’-
they exist as O 2 so each molecule of oxygen has 2 oxygen atoms.
If we put a big number 2 in front of the O 2 then we will have 4
Oxygen atoms.
The balanced equation now reads:
CH 4 + 2O 2 -> CO 2 + 2H 2 O
One more check to see if we are right:
On the left: On the right
Cx1 Cx1
Hx4 Hx4
Ox4 Ox4

Chemical Reactions
It is balanced! The symbol equation for the reaction between me-
thane and oxygen is: CH 4 + 2O 2 -> CO 2 + 2H 2 O
Very important: you never change the little numbers in
any formula while trying to balance an equation.
Test yourself: Try this…… hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) breaks
down to produce water (H 2 O) and oxygen (O 2 )
1) Write a word equation for this reaction
2) Write a symbol equation for this reaction
3) Balance the symbol reaction for this equation
Answers:
1) Hydrogen peroxide -> Water + Oxygen
2) H 2 O 2 -> H 2 O + O 2
3) H 2 O 2 -> H 2 O + O 2
Left side: Right side:
Hx2 H x 2 - balanced
Ox2 O x 3 – unbalanced
We need more oxygen’s at the start so we will had a big 2 to
the start of the H 2 O 2 – this will balance the oxygen but un-
balance the hydrogen again

Chemical Reactions
2H 2 O 2 -> H 2 O + O 2
Now left has: Right has:
Hx4 Hx2
Ox4 Ox3
To balance the equation we need to add a big 2 to the start of
the H 2 O
2H 2 O 2 -> 2H 2 O + O 2
Left side: Right side:
Hx4 Hx4
Ox4 Ox4
Balanced!

Chemical Reactions
Lesson 3: Energy in Chemical Reactions-

Exothermic reactions

Exothermic
Endothermic
Anhydrous copper sulfate
• Glowsticks
• Elephant’s Toothpaste Experiment:
• A clean 500ml plastic drinks bottle
• 1/2 cup 6% hydrogen peroxide liquid (You can get this from a beau-
ty supply store, hair salon or chemist)
• 1 Tablespoon (one packet) of dry yeast
• 3 Tablespoons of warm water
• Liquid dish washing soap
• Food colouring
• Small cup
• Safety goggles
• Test tube and holder
• Burner
• Copper sulfate
• Beaker
Lesson Content
One of the ways that we know that a chemical reaction is happening
is if energy is given out to the surroundings. We call this an exothermic
reaction. Usually this energy is in the form of heat but it can just be light

Chemical Reactions
without heat like with glow sticks. If the experiment loses heat it will feel
hot to the touch.
Examples of exothermic reactions are:

• Burning any fuel
• When magnesium reacts with water
• A glow stick
• Adding water to anhydrous copper sulfate

Chemical Reactions
Experiment Time!
There is a fun experiment you can do to demonstrate an exothermic

reaction. It is called Elephant’s Toothpaste because it produces a large
stream of foam like squeezing a tube of toothpaste.
You will need

• A clean 500ml plastic soda bottle
• 1/2 cup 6% hydrogen peroxide liquid
• 1 Tablespoon (one packet) of dry yeast
• 3 Tablespoons of warm water
• Liquid dish washing soap
• Food colouring
• Small cup
• Safety goggles
NOTE: The foam will overflow from the bottle, so be sure to do this
experiment on a washable surface, or place the bottle on a tray.
Method:
1. Hydrogen peroxide can irritate skin and eyes, so put on those
safety goggles and ask an adult to carefully pour the hydrogen
peroxide into the bottle.
2. Add 8 drops of your favourite food colouring into the bottle.
3. Add about 1 tablespoon of liquid dish soap into the bottle and
swish the bottle around a bit to mix it.
4. In a separate small cup, combine the warm water and the yeast
together and mix for about 30 seconds.
5. Now the adventure starts! Pour the yeast water mixture into the
bottle (a funnel helps here) and watch the foaminess begin!

Chemical Reactions
6. The foam produced is just water, soap, and oxygen so won’t hurt
you but you can feel the outside of the bottle to prove it is an
exothermic reaction
How does it work?

The foam you made is special because each tiny foam bubble is filled
with oxygen. The yeast acted as a catalyst (it speeds up the reaction
without changing itself or the resulting products) to remove the oxygen
from the hydrogen peroxide. Since it did this very fast, it created lots and
lots of bubbles.
The foam produced is safe to clean up with a cloth and pour any extra
liquid left in the bottle down the drain.
This is a large scale example!
http://www.echo.education/url/elephantstoothpaste
2) Glowsticks:
Snap the glow sticks to start the reaction This is also an exothermic
reaction but the energy it gives off is in the form of light and not heat
3)

Chemical Reactions
3) Adding water to anhydrous copper sulfate

When you add water to anhydrous copper sulfate it gives off heat. First
you will need to make anhydrous copper sulfate. All this is is copper sul-
fate which has been heated to remove the water. As the water evapo-
rates the blue copper sulfate will turn from blue to white.
Method:
• Put 1 scoop of copper sulfate into a test tube
• Using a holder and wearing safety goggles, gently heat the test
tube to evaporate the water from the copper sulfate.
• You will know when you have finished as the powder will have
turned white.
• Leave it to cool, standing it in a beaker and then add a few drops of

water to the anhydrous copper sulfate. It will turn blue again and
give out heat. If you carefully touch the outside of the test tube you
will feel it.
Ask your child to write up what they have done today

Chemical Reactions
Lesson 4: Endothermic Reactions and

Combustion
Today’s Important Spellings: Photosynthesis

Exothermic Complete combustion
Endothermic Incomplete combustion
Combustion
• Sherbet powder (available from a sweet shop)
Lesson Content
Last lesson we looked at reactions which gave out energy to the sur-
roundings – either in the form of heat or light. These reactions are called
exothermic. Now we will look at the opposite reactions:
Endothermic Reactions
Reactions that absorb energy from the environment are called endo-
thermic reactions. The energy absorbed is usually in the form of heat
so these experiments feel cold. But sometimes the energy is in the form
of light like photosynthesis. Photosynthesis is the process used by
plants to convert light energy, normally from the Sun, into chemical ener-
gy (carbohydrates) that can be later be released to fuel the organisms'
activities.

Chemical Reactions
Endothermic reactions are less common than exothermic

ones.
An example would be eating sherbet which feels cold on your

tongue – have a go!
Sherbet on her tongue!
This YouTube clip shows an endothermic reaction in action
http://www.echo.education/url/endothermicreaction
You can tell is a reaction is exothermic or endothermic by using

a thermometer. You take the temperature of the surroundings before
the reaction and again afterwards. If the surroundings get hotter the re-
action is exothermic, if they get cooler, it is endothermic. If the reaction is
happening in a solution you can put the thermometer into the solution as
the solvent is part of the surroundings.

Chemical Reactions
Combustion
When things burn they release energy so combustion (burning) is an

exothermic reaction.
Some substances are burned specifically to release heat energy we call

them a fuel. All fuels are flammable substances and will usually carry
the flammable hazardous symbol.
A flammable warning sign
Examples of fuels which we burn specifically to release heat energy are:
• Wood
• Coal
• Oil
• Natural gas
• Charcoal

Chemical Reactions
For combustion to happen three things are needed. We use a fire trian-
gle to help us remember them:
The fire triangle
If one of the sides is removed combustion is not possible. This is what

firefighters understand in order to put out fires.
e.g. 1. Carbon dioxide extinguishers remove the oxygen
2. Water sprayed on a fire removes the heat

Chemical Reactions
Complete and Incomplete Combustion

In a good supply of oxygen, a fuel that contains carbon and hydrogen
burns to form carbon dioxide and water and releases a lot of heat en-
ergy. It is called complete combustion.
BUT when there isn’t enough oxygen then incomplete combustion oc-
curs. This releases less energy and so is less efficient. It produces car-
bon (seen as soot) and poisonous carbon monoxide gas.
Complete Combus- Incomplete Combus-

tion tion
Lots of heat Less heat

Carbon dioxide Carbon Monoxide
Water Soot
Ask your child to copy the fire triangle and the table of complete and
incomplete combustion.

Chemical Reactions
Lesson 5: Thermal Decomposition

Thermal decomposition
Endothermic reaction
Lesson Content
Thermal decomposition, or thermolysis, is a chemi-
cal decomposition (or breakdown) caused by heat.
The decomposition temperature of a substance is the temperature at
which the substance chemically decomposes.
The reaction is usually endothermic as heat is required to break chemi-

cal bonds in the compound undergoing decomposition.
When copper carbonate is heated it decomposes into copper oxide and

releases carbon dioxide. It changes colour from green to black and the
gas produced pushes the solid particles around. If you collected the gas
you could test that it is carbon dioxide by bubbling it through lime water.
If it turns the lime water milky/cloudy, it is carbon dioxide.
Heating copper carbonate

Chemical Reactions
You can watch this reaction on YouTube
http://www.echo.education/url/decomposition
The word equation for this is:
Copper carbonate -> copper oxide + carbon dioxide
The symbol equation is:
CuCo 3 -> CuO + CO 2
Ask your child to write up this experiment. They should include a

method, labelled scientific diagram, results and conclusion plus how to
test the gas released to ensure it is in fact carbon dioxide. Their conclu-
sion should include word and symbol equations.
Another common example is the decomposition of calcium car-

bonate or limestone, CaCO3. When it is heated, it breaks down to form
calcium oxide and carbon dioxide. Calcium oxide reacts with water to
produce calcium hydroxide.
Limestone and its products have many uses, including being used to
make
• mortar,
• cement,
• concrete
• glass

Chemical Reactions
Lesson 6: Oxidation and Reduction
Today’s Important Spellings: Redox

Oxidation Reduced
Reduction
Suggested Resources:
• Small strip of magnesium
• Iron fillings
• Small spoon
• Burner
• Tweezer or small pliers/tongs
• Tin tray
Lesson Content
Oxidation
An Oxidation Reaction is anywhere something gains oxygen in a reac-
tion. When oxygen is one of the reactants of a reaction then we can call
it an oxidation reaction.
Experiment time!
1) Hold the end of a piece of magnesium ribbon about 3cm long

in a pair of tweezers/pliers and out it in the burner flame. Hold it as
steady as you can and be patient. The magnesium will ignite and
burn with a bright, white flame. Hold it over the tin tray near the
burner to catch the white hot ash.
Warning: do not look closely at the burning magnesium as the bright

light could damage your eyes.

Chemical Reactions
The magnesium has oxidised to become magnesium oxide (the white

ash).
Ask your child to write up this experiment using word and symbol
equations.
Iron fillings
2) This is one of my children’s favourite experiments: You need

iron fillings and a small evaporating spoon from your chemistry set.
Put half a measure of iron fillings into the spoon and hold it above
the flame of the burner. Gently tip the spoon so they fall a few at a
time into the flame.
The iron fillings oxidise to form iron oxide. They are so small that
they burst into flame and sparkle as they fall through the burner
flame. Sparkler fireworks contain iron fillings!
Reduction
The opposite of oxidation is reduction. Reduction is when a chemical
loses oxygen. We say that the chemical has been reduced. Oxidation
and reduction often happen in the same experiment – with one chemical
losing oxygen and another one gaining it. This is often called redox (red-
from reduction and -ox from oxidation)
A good YouTube clip to watch reduction and oxidation in action is
http://www.echo.education/url/glucosereduction
Another example is when we extract copper from copper oxide. We

do this by adding carbon monoxide. The copper oxide is reduced
Copper oxide + Carbon monoxide -> Copper + carbon dioxide
CuO + CO -> Cu + CO 2

Chemical Reactions
Lesson 7: The speed of reactions and

catalysts

Catalysts
Suggested Resources:
• If you have the resources left over from the Elephant’s Toothpaste
you can do this experiment again here or watch it on YouTube to
remind your child
• Granulated sugar
• Pestle and mortar (or caster sugar)
• Drinking Glasses
• Hot and cold water
Lesson Content
Some chemical reactions are very fast e.g.
Explosions and Burning

Some chemical reactions are very slow e.g.
Rusting

Chemical Reactions
Scientists need to be able to control the speed of chemical reactions

because
• If the reaction is too fast it might be dangerous
• If it is too slow you might lose money in industry through not

producing the end product quickly enough
There are several things you can do to speed up a reaction.
1) You can heat up the experiment
Illustrate this with two glasses of water – one hot and one cold.
Add a teaspoon of granulated sugar to each and stir both at the
same time. Which dissolves the sugar faster? The hot water will
speed up the dissolving of the sugar.
You can also increase the temperature of the reactants them-

selves.
2) You can increase the concentration of any dissolved

reactants.
3) You can grind up any lumps of solid into powder
Illustrate this with two glasses of cold water. Grind some granu-
lated sugar up in a pestle and mortar if you have one or use caster
sugar demonstrating that it has much smaller grains than granulat-
ed sugar. Add a spoonful granulated to one and the smaller grains
to the other glass and stir at the same time. You will find that the
smaller grains dissolve more quickly.
4) Increase the pressure of any gaseous reactants

Chemical Reactions
5) Add a catalyst
Catalysts are very clever as they speed up the reaction without

being used up or chemically changed themselves and are used in
my chemical processes to save time and therefore money.
Catalysts are very useful chemicals. They allow a reaction to occur at

lower temperatures which also saves the company money.
We recently looked at yeast acting as a catalyst in the Elephant’s

Toothpaste experiment. If you have enough reactants left you could do
this again or watch it here on YouTube to remind you:
http://www.echo.education/url/elephantstoothpaste2
Ask your child to write up what they have learnt about catalysts.

Chemical Reactions
Chemical Reactions End of Topic Practise

Questions
1) Sodium chloride is produced when you react dilute sodium

hydroxide with dilute hydrochloric acid. Water is also produced in
this reaction. Write a word equation for this reaction.
2) Name the two reactants
a)
b)
3) Name the two products

a)
b)
4) What would expect to SEE when a reaction produces a gas?
5) Hydrochloric acid reacts with magnesium to for magnesium

chloride and hydrogen. This is the symbol equation
HCl + Mg -> MgCl 2 + H 2
Balance this equation

Chemical Reactions
6) What three things are needed for combustion (burning) to happen?

We call them the fire triangle
a)
b)
c)
7) Give an example of an exothermic reaction that gives out light not

heat
8) What is an endothermic reaction?
9) Give an example of an endothermic reaction used by plants
10) What do we use to measure temperature changes?
11) Is thermal decomposition an example of an endothermic or

an exothermic reaction?
12) Any reaction in which oxygen is added to a chemical is called

……………………………?
13) A reaction where oxygen is removed from a chemical is

called………………….?
14) Why is it a problem to scientists if a reaction is too fast?

Chemical Reactions
15) Why might it be a problem to industry if a reaction is too

slow?
16) What could you add to a reaction to speed it up?

Chemical Reactions
Chemical Reactions End of Topic Practise

Questions
ANSWERS
1) Sodium chloride is produced when you react dilute sodium

hydroxide with dilute hydrochloric acid. Water is also produced in
this reaction. Write a word equation for this reaction.
Sodium hydroxide + Hydrochloric acid -> Sodium chloride + water
2) Name the two reactants

Sodium hydroxide and hydrochloric acid
3) Name the two products

Sodium chloride and water
4) What would expect to SEE when a reaction produces a gas?

Bubbles
5) Hydrochloric acid reacts with magnesium to for magnesium

chloride and hydrogen. This is the symbol equation
2HCl + Mg -> MgCl 2 + H 2
6) What three things are needed for combustion (burning) to happen?

We call them the fire triangle
a) fuel
b) heat
c) oxygen

Chemical Reactions
7) Give an example of an exothermic reaction that gives out light not

heat
A glowstick
8) What is an endothermic reaction?

A reaction that takes in energy from its surroundings
9) Give an example of an endothermic reaction used by plants

Photosynthesis
10) What do we use to measure temperature changes?

A thermometer
11) Is thermal decomposition an example of an endothermic or

an exothermic reaction?
Endothermic
12) Any reaction in which oxygen is added to a chemical is called

oxidation?
13) A reaction where oxygen is removed from a chemical is

called reduction?
14) Why is it a problem to scientists if a reaction is too fast?
It could be dangerous
15) Why might it be a problem to industry if a reaction is too

slow?
They lose money
16) What could you add to a reaction to speed it up?

A catalyst

Chemical Fundamentals
Lesson 1: States of Matter: Solids, Liquids

and Gases
Today’s Important Spellings: Concentration

Molecules
Atoms
Ions
• Cocktail sticks
• Jelly tot type sweets or mini marshmallows
Lesson Content
Substances can be classified into three groups or states of matter –
these are solids, liquids or gases.
The Particle Model

All substances are made from particles. These particles might be mole-
cules, atoms or ions. We can look that their arrangement and movement
of these particles and explain the properties of solids, liquids
and gases. The strength of bonds between particles is different in all
three states. It explains why solids cannot flow, and why gases can be
compressed.
Solids.
Ceramic, copper, plastic and wood are solids at room temperature. Ice is
solid water. Solids hold their shape they don’t flow like a liquid. A cup will
always look like a cup unless something happens to it. The same is true
for a rock or a diamond. Solids can hold their shape because their mole-
cules are packed tightly together.

The particles in a solid are:

• Close together
• Arranged in a regular pattern
• Held together by strong forces called bonds
• Vibrate in a fixed pattern
• Cannot move from place to place
A diagram of the particles in a solid
Solids have a fixed shape and they cannot flow because the particles
cannot move from place to place. They are held in place by their bonds.
Solids can’t be squashed or compressed because the molecules are al-
ready very close together and so can’t move closer. The particles can vi-
brate but not move away from each other. The strong bonds between the
particles mean they have a high melting point as it takes a lot of energy
(heat) to break them.
Illustrate this bond by interlocking elbows with your child. You are
very close together and can hardly move at all. You can vibrate but not
move closer or away from each other. This is a strong bond.
So solids:
1. Have a fixed, dense shape
2. Cannot flow
3. Cannot be squashed or compressed
4. Have high melting points

Ask your child to make a model of a solid – use cocktail sticks and
jelly sweets to push lots of sweets on the sticks and line them up closely.
Liquids
The metal mercury, lemonade and water are liquids at room temperature.
Liquid particles are
• Close together
• Arranged in a random way
• Able to move around each other
The bonds in liquids are strong enough to keep the particles close to-
gether but weak enough to let them move around each other.

The particles in a liquid
Liquids flow and take the shape of the container they are in. This is be-
cause the particles can move around each other. They cannot be com-
pressed or squashed because the particles are already close together
and can’t move closer.
Illustrate this with your child by holding hands at arm’s length. The
bonds are still there but you also have movement around each other.
Liquids
1. Cannot be compressed
2. Have lower melting points than most solids as the bonds

aren’t as strong
3. Take the shape of their container

Ask your child to make a model of a liquid using short pieces of cock-
tail sticks to make a more random pattern, joined with short bonds.
Gases
Air, helium and chlorine are gases at room temperature. Water vapour is
water as a gas.
Gas particles:
• are far apart
• arranged in a random way
• move quickly in all directions
There are no bonds between the particles in a gas, so they are free to
move in any direction.

The particles in a gas
Gas particles fill the container they are in

Illustrate this with your child by standing apart and just touch the
very tips of your fingers. Now you can move about very easily.
So gases:
1. flow and quickly completely fill their container
2. The particles can move quickly in all directions.
3. They can be compressed or squashed and are less

dense than solids and liquids
4. The particles are far apart and have space to move into.
5. Have very low melting points
Ask your child to scatter a few jelly tots on a piece of paper to illus-
trate the particle model of gases.
This is a particle model - this means that is isn’t something that scien-
tists can see or touch but it explains an idea and is a simple way of ex-
plaining something so others can understand. The particle model isn’t
perfect but it explains the properties of solids, liquids and gases, It also
explains diffusion and Brownian Motion (to be covered in following
lessons)

Ask your child to make a chart with three columns labelled Solids,
Liquids and Gases. They should draw the particles and list the character-
istics of each state of matter

Lesson 2: Diffusion

Concentration
Particles
Brownian Motion
• Perfume or air freshener
• 2 drinking glasses – one with hot water and one with cold
• Food colouring
Lesson Content
Stand at the opposite end of the room to your child and spray some
perfume or air freshener into the air. Ask them to close their eyes and put
their hand up when they can smell it. Remind them of how you can be
upstairs but if someone if frying bacon or baking a cake you can smell it
upstairs. Why do they think this is?
The answer is that the particles that cause the smell are able to
travel through the air. This is called diffusion and it takes place in liq-
uids and gases but not in solids.
How does diffusion work?
• The smell particles can move between the air particles
• The air particles bump into the smell particles and push them
around
• The smell particles move, over time, from an area of high

concentration (where there are lots of them) to areas of low
concentration (where there are fewer of them)

Illustrate diffusion in liquids:
You need 2 glasses of water – one hot and one cold. Drop an equal
amount of food colouring (a few drops) into each glass and watch what
happens. It often helps to hold up a sheet of water paper behind the
glasses so that you can clearly see what is happening.
You should see the colour diffusing through the water- eventually the
whole glass will be filled with equally coloured water. The hot water will
diffuse more quickly than the cold.
Why does this happen?
The colour particles diffuse more quickly through the hot water be-
cause the energy provided by the heat move their molecules more quick-
ly and randomly so the colour particles get bumped and move more
quickly through the water.

Brownian Motion
Watch this YouTube clip
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hy-clLi8gHg
In 1829, Robert Brown watched pollen grains in water through a micro-

scope. He saw that they moved randomly and changed direction all the
time but he didn’t know why. It was 75 years before Albert Einstein ex-
plained that the pollen grains were constantly being hit by the water mol-
ecules which were too small to see using a light microscope.
Ask your child to write an account of why they can smell bacon frying
when they aren’t even in the same room.

Lesson 3: Pressure in Gases
Today’s Important Spellings: Boiling

Particles Evaporating
Pressure Freezing
Force Sublimation
Melting
• Ammonium chloride
• Test tube
• Beaker
• Burner
Lesson Content
Ask your child to recap the particles in solids, liquids and gases from
last lesson.

The particles in gases are widely spaced and move very quickly.
When they bump into the sides of the container, they press against it.
The particles are very small and have a very low mass but there are mil-
lion and millions of them so the total effect is a noticeable force, pushing
outwards. This is called gas pressure.
You can affect the pressure of a gas in three different ways
1. The number of gas particles
2. The volume of the container
3. The temperature
The number of gas particles

If there are fewer particles in a container they collide with the walls of the
container less frequently so the pressure is low. If you add more parti-
cles to the container the particles will collide with the walls of the con-
tainer more frequently so the pressure increases. This is why the pres-
sure in a tyre or balloon goes up when more air is pumped in.

The volume of the container

If there is a large volume (a big container) the particles collide with the
walls with low frequency, so the pressure is low. But if you reduce the
volume of the container the pressure increases because the particles
collide with the walls more frequently.
The temperature
At low temperature the particles move more slowly so they exert less
pressure on the sides of the container. If you increase the temperature
the particles move faster so they exert a greater pressure on the sides
of the container.

Changes of State
Talk to your child about water…….give them a glass full and ask
them what state it is now (liquid) Ask them how to change it into a solid
(freeze it – ice) Ask if there is a way to change it back into a liquid? (yes
by melting it) Can you turn liquid water into a gas? (yes by boiling it) Can
you change that gas (water vapour) back into a liquid? (yes condense it
onto a cold surface like a window or cold baking tray) You could illustrate
each of these changes of state with your child if they are unsure.
Most substances can exist as a solid, liquid or a gas. You can

change them between the states of matter by changing the temperature.
A diagram of changes of state
• When a solid is heated, it melts into a liquid e.g. when you heat
chocolate it melts into liquid chocolate. When it cools again, the
chocolate freezes (solidifies)
• When a liquid is heated it turns into a gas e.g. water turns into
steam. If this takes place slowly at a temperature lower than boiling

point we call it evaporating. This forms a vapour. If it takes place

quickly at boiling point we call it boiling.
• When a gas turns into a liquid we call it condensing. It forms liquid

water again.
Sublimation
In some situations, a solid may turn straight into a gas when it is
heated. E.g. solid carbon dioxide is called dry ice and it sublimes at
room temperature and pressure. It is possible to turn carbon dioxide gas
into a liquid but only under higher pressure which forces the particles to-
gether to make a liquid.
A diagram of changes of state including sublimation

Sublimation experiment:
You will need:
• ammonium chloride
• a test tube
• a beaker
• a burner.
Method:
Put 1 measure of ammonium chloride into a test tube and heat only the
bottom of the tube, gently at first and then more strongly. The tube will be
hot so out it into the beaker when you have finished and not a test tube
rack.
Ammonium chloride is an unusual substance as it sublimes. This

means it is will change straight from a solid into a gas without becoming
a liquid first.
NB: Water is unusual- because although a solid should be more

dense than a liquid and a liquid should be more dense that a gas. But ice
is less dense that liquid water which is why ice floats.

Lesson 4: Atoms and Molecules
Today’s Important Spellings: Chemical formula

Element Periodic table
Compound
• Counters or pennies
Lesson Content
What is an atom?
An atom is the smallest form of a chemical particle that retains the prop-
erties of the particle. They are the smallest building blocks that every-
thing is made from.
The word 'atom' comes from the Greek word 'atomos', meaning 'unable
to be cut'. The original meaning of atom was the smallest, indivisible form
of a chemical particle. Now that we know how to divide atoms into sub-
atomic particles
History of atomic theory

Atomism is the philosophy of the existence of atoms. The first recorded
theories come from India. They were put forward by a handful of ancient
religious philosophers, many of whom pondered on the nature of sub-
stances of the material world as part of their spiritual quest.
A century later, Greek philosophers Democritus and Leucippus proposed

that
• All matter is made from atoms
• Atoms cannot be divided into smaller particles

• They weren’t scientists though because they didn’t test their ideas
using experiments or models.
In the eleventh century, al-Ghazali, an Islamic philosopher, wove the In-

dian and Greek theories together and suggested that there may be parti-
cles smaller than atoms and that atoms were the only eternal, material
things in existence.
In the 1800s, chemist John Dalton proposed that
1. Each chemical element is made from only one type of atom
2. .Atoms cannot be made or destroyed in chemical reactions or

physical changes
3. Atoms of one element can combine with atoms of another element

in fixed ratios to form a compound with a definite chemical formula
We generally regard Dalton as the founder of modern atomic theory

from which other theories have since developed.
In 1911, the experiment that contributed most to our knowledge of the

structure of the atom was done by Ernest Rutherford. In this experi-
ment, Rutherford bombarded a thin foil of gold with a beam of alpha par-
ticles and looked at the beams on a fluorescent screen, where he noticed
the following:
• Most of the particles went straight through the foil and struck the
screen.
• Some (0.1 percent) were deflected or scattered in front (at various
angles) of the foil, while others were scattered behind the foil.

Rutherford concluded that the gold atoms were mostly empty space,
which allowed most of the alpha particles through. However, some small
region of the atom must have been dense enough to deflect the alpha
particle. He called this dense region the nucleus.
Scientists continued to study the atom and found out that they are made
up of protons, neutrons and electrons. Recent research, in particle ac-
celerators like the Large Hadron Collider have discovered more tiny par-
ticles that are smaller than atoms e.g. the Higgs Boson is a very active
field of research.
Structure of an atom
An atom contains three sub-atomic particles. At the centre is a nucleus,
which contains protons, positively charged particles, and neutrons,
which are particles with no charge. Surrounding the nucleus are mov-
ing electrons, which are negatively charged particles.
An exception to this structure is the simplest atom, hydrogen, which

comprises a nucleus of one proton and no neutrons, surrounded by one
electron.
• Proton: a positively charged sub-atomic particle
• Neutron: a sub-atomic particle with no charge
• Electron: a negatively charged sub-atomic particle
Protons and neutrons have about the same mass. Although smaller and
of very little mass, electrons occupy the bulk of the space with their
movement around the nucleus.

The simple atomic model
Shells containing electrons surround the nucleus. Imagine that a golf ball
is the nucleus containing protons and neutrons, then place the golf ball
inside a tennis ball, then the tennis ball inside a cricket ball and so on.
The 'shells' are the balls that surround the original golf ball. The electrons
move around on these shells, attracted to the positive charge of the pro-
tons in the nucleus. In a 2D diagram the shells look like rings.
Each shell has a maximum number of electrons
• The first shell can hold 2 electrons
• The second and subsequent shells can each hold 8 electrons

e.g. The carbon atom contains 6 protons so it is element number 6 on

the periodic table. It has an atomic number of 6. The electrons are ar-
ranged 2 in the first shell and 4 in the second.
The atomic model of a carbon atom
Protons and Neutrons are found in the nucleus. Protons have a positive
charge whilst neutrons are neutral (they have no charge.) Electrons have
a negative charge.
A table to represent the charges and locations of the part of an atom

It is really important that your child begins to get confident with the
atomic structure. A good way to do this is to give them the diagram
below and give them some counters. Tell them the number of elec-
trons and ask them to arrange them on the shells. They should put 2
on the first and the rest on the outer shells with a maximum of eight
on each subsequent shell.

Lesson 5: Elements and Compounds
Today’s Important Spellings: Chemical formula

Element Periodic table
Compound
Lesson Content
An Element is a pure substance which is made from only one
type of atom. The elements are found listed on the periodic table, along
with their unique symbols. There are around 120 elements that are
found naturally.
You are made up of billions of atoms but you probably won't find more
than 40 elements (types of atoms) in your body. Chemists have learned
that over 95% of your body is made up of hydrogen (H), carbon (C), ni-
trogen (N), oxygen (O), phosphorus (P), and calcium (Ca).
Elements combine to form compounds. Compounds are pure substances
that have different properties from those of the elements from which they
are made.
E.g. Hydrogen is a flammable gas. Oxygen is a reactive gas. They are
both elements. They react together to form water – a compound. But
this compound is very different from hydrogen and oxygen.
Compounds have a chemical formula that tells you how many of each
type if atom they contain.
is the chemical symbol for water. It tells you that

there are 2 hydrogen atoms (H) and one oxygen atom (O).

The chemical symbol for Sodium Sulfate

Sodium sulfate contains 2 sodium atoms, one sulphur atom and four
oxygen atoms.
Why do we use chemical symbols?

Scientists use symbols to help them communicate effectively across
countries and languages and to save time and to help communicate
compounds and their components. All the symbols for the known ele-
ments are listed in the periodic table. Sometimes the symbols seem
obvious e.g. H for hydrogen but sometimes the symbol comes from the
Latin name for the element. Iron has the symbol Fe which comes from
the Latin name- ferrum. The first letter of the element symbol is always a
capital.
Elements as Building Blocks

The periodic table is organized like a big grid. Each element is placed
in a specific location because of its atomic structure. As with any grid, the
periodic table has rows (left to right) and columns (up and down). Each
row and column has specific characteristics.
For example, beryllium (Be) and magnesium (Mg) are found in column
two and share certain similarities while potassium (K) and calcium (Ca)
from row four share different characteristics.
Rows are called periods (hence period-ic table)

Even though they skip some squares in between, all of the rows read left
to right. When you look at the periodic table, each row is called

a period. All of the elements in a period have the same number

of atomic shells or orbitals. For example, every element in the top row
(the first period) has one shell for its electrons. All of the elements in the
second row (the second period) have two shells for their electrons. As
you move down the table, every row adds a shell/ orbital. At this time,
there is a maximum of seven electron orbitals.
Columns are called Groups

The periodic table also has a special name for its vertical columns. Each
column is called a group. The elements in each group have the same
number of electrons in the outer orbital. They are the electrons involved
in chemical bonds with other elements.
Every element in the first column (group one) has one electron in its
outer shell. Every element in the second column (group two) has two
electrons in the outer shell. As you keep counting the columns, you'll
know how many electrons are in the outer shell.
There are exceptions to the order when you look at the transition ele-
ments. These transition elements add electrons to the second-to-last or-
bital.
For example, nitrogen (N) has the atomic number seven. The atomic
number tells you there are seven electrons in a neutral atom of nitrogen.
How many electrons are in its outer orbital? Nitrogen is in the fifteenth

column, labelled 'Group VA'. The 'V' is the Roman numeral for five and
represents the number of electrons in the outer orbital. All of that infor-
mation tells you there are two electrons in the first orbital (shell) and five
in the second (2-5).
Phosphorus (P) is also in Group VA which means it also has five elec-
trons in its outer orbital. However, because the atomic number for phos-
phorus is fifteen, the electron configuration is 2-8-5.
Two at the Top

Hydrogen (H) and helium (He) are special elements. Hydrogen can
have the electron traits of two groups: one and seven.
Helium (He) is different from all of the other elements. It is very stable
with only two electrons in its outer orbital (valence shell). Even though it
only has two, it is still grouped with the noble gases that have eight elec-
trons in their outermost orbitals. The noble gases and helium are all "sta-
ble," because their outer shell is full.
We will study the periodic table in depth later in the course.


Lesson 6: Chemical Reactions
Today’s Important Spellings: Bonds

Reactions Molecules
Physical changes Law of conservation
Lesson Content
In a chemical reaction new chemicals are made.
Examples of chemical reactions are:
• Burning a fuel
• Rusting
• Respiration

• Photosynthesis
A chemical change can usually be identified because
1) They are usually hard to reverse
2) There is a large energy change (energy given out or taken

in)
3) There might be a colour change
4) There might be evidence of a new chemical being made e.g.

bubbles of gas
Dissolving is NOT a chemical reaction
Changes of state (melting, boiling) are NOT chemical reactions.

These are easy to reverse so they are called physical changes.
What happens to atoms in a chemical reaction?

In a chemical reaction atoms are REARRANGED.
Chemical bonds between atoms are broken and then new chemical
bonds are made.

A particle diagram of the formation of water from hydrogen and oxygen
This is a particle diagram. It shows how water is formed by the re-

action between hydrogen and oxygen. This diagram shows that to make
2 molecules of water you need 2 molecules of hydrogen and 1 of oxy-
gen. The chemical bonds between the hydrogen molecules are broken
as are the bonds between the oxygen molecules. New bonds are formed
in the water molecules.
A particle diagram of the reaction between methane and oxygen
Here methane and oxygen react together to make carbon dioxide and
water. The bids in methane and in oxygen break and new bonds are
formed to make the new compounds.

Conservation of Mass
In a chemical reaction atoms are rearranged. They are NEVER cre-
ated or destroyed. All the atoms present at the start of the reaction are
still present at the end.
In the reaction above there are:
1 carbon, 4 hydrogen and 4 oxygen atoms at the start of the reaction so

there must be 1 carbon, 4 hydrogen and 4 oxygen atoms at the end of
the reaction. They have been rearranged but nothing has been lost.
This is called the law of conservation. Mass is conserved in chemical

reactions.
This is also true for the mass of chemicals. In this experiment iron oxide
reacts with aluminium to make aluminium oxide and iron.
Iron oxide + aluminium  aluminium oxide + iron
(160g) (54g) (102g) (112g)
If you add up the masses on each side of the arrows they will equal the
same mass as atoms are very created or destroyed. The reactants (on
the left) add up to 214g (160g+54g) and the products (on the right) add
up to 214g (102g +112g). The mass is conserved.
Mass is also conserved in physical changes – e.g. if you have 10g of ice
you will get 10g of water.
Reactions that seem to get lighter or heavier.

When you burn a lighted splint it seems to get lighter –there is definitely
less in your hand. But the atoms have not been destroyed. The chemi-
cals produced in some reactions are gases and they escape into the air.
If you were to collect the gases and add their mass to the mass of ash
they would weigh the same as the original unlit splint.
When you burn magnesium it seems to get heavier but this is because
the oxygen molecules in the air have bonded to the magnesium atoms
forming magnesium oxide.

Chemistry Fundamentals End of Topic

Practise Questions
These practise questions can be presented to your child in any way
that is appropriate – you could do a fun quiz style, a ‘pick a question from
a box type quiz, an oral ‘let’s have a go at these together’ style or as a
test of what they have understood by setting as a ‘test’. It is entirely up to
1) Write which states of matter each of these diagrams represent.

Describe how the particles are arranged.
2) State 2 properties of gases and explain them using the ideas of

particles
a)

b)
3) Describe how the movement in the articles of a gas changes when

temperature is increased and what effect this has on the pressure.
4) What name is given to the process that changes ice into water?
5) What is the process that changes water into steam?
6) Why is ice unusual in the fact that it floats on water?
7) Explain how you can smell a cake baking in the kitchen when you
are in another room? What is this process called?
8) The same process that allows the cake to be smelled also occurs
in liquids but is slower. Why?
9) Why does cooking an egg show chemical reactions and not

physical changes?

10) Is boiling water a chemical change or a physical reaction?

Why?
11) What happens to the mass of an egg as it is cooked? Explain

your answer by explaining what happens to atoms in a chemical
reaction.
12) What is the name of the special reaction where a solid turns
directly into a gas?
13)
Which diagram could represent pure water?
14) Which states of matter are relatively incompressible?

15) Which state of matter can be compressed?

Chemistry Fundamentals End of Topic Prac-

tise Questions
ANSWERS
1) Write which states of matter each of these diagrams represent.

Describe how the particles are arranged.
Solid. The particles are close together and touch-

ing their neighbours with strong bonds between them.
Gas. The particles are widely spaced with

weak bonds between them.
Liquid. The particles are mostly touching

their neighbours but have room to move around each other.
2) State 2 properties of gases and explain them using the ideas of

particles
a) Compressible as the particles are widely spaced and can easily
move closer to one another when compressed
b) low boiling points as bonds between them are weak.

You can also accept lower densities, or move to fill the space they are
in or can take on the shape of their container.
3) Describe how the movement in the articles of a gas changes when

temperature is increased and what effect this has on the pressure.
The particles will move more quickly and bang into the sides of the
container more often and so increase the pressure
4) What name is given to the process that changes ice into water?
Melting
5) What is the process that changes water into steam?

Boiling
6) Why is ice unusual in the fact that it floats on water?

Usually a solid would be more dense than a liquid an so would sink
but ice is less dense and floats
7) Explain how you can smell a cake baking in the kitchen when you
are in another room? What is this process called?
The smell particles get passed along by the movement of air parti-
cles, the process is called diffusion.
8) The same process that allows the cake to be smelled also occurs
in liquids but is slower. Why?
The liquid particles move less quickly as they are closer together
with stronger bonds.

9) Why does cooking an egg show chemical reactions and not

physical changes?
Chemical reactions can’t be reversed whereas physical changes
can.
10) Is boiling water a chemical change or a physical reaction?

Why? Boiling can be reversed. It doesn’t create permanent
changes
11) What happens to the mass of an egg as it is boiled. Explain

your answer by explaining what happens to atoms in a chemical
reaction.
The mass will stay the same. The law of conservation says that all
the atoms will be present at the end of the reaction that were at the
beginning.
12) What is the name of the special reaction where a solid turns
directly into a gas?
Sublimation
13) Which of these diagrams represents a pure element?

B
14) Which diagram could represent pure water?

15) Which states of matter are relatively incompressible?

Liquids and solids
16) Which state of matter can be compressed?
Gas

The Periodic Table
Lesson 1: The properties of metals
Today’s Important Spellings: Bases

Conductor Ductile
Sonorous
Density
Alloy
Copy of the periodic table
Lesson Content
All the elements to the left of the ‘steps’ on this periodic table are
metals.
The Periodic Table broken into metals and non-metals

The Periodic Table
Most metals have the same properties or characteristics.
• A high melting point
• Good conductors of electricity
• Shiny
• Ductile (can be drawn into wires)

The Periodic Table
• High Density (heavy for their size)
• Hard (difficult to scratch)
• Good conductor of heat
• Malleable (can be beaten into shape)
• Strong (don’t break easily)

The Periodic Table
Metals are sometimes mixed together to form alloys. Alloys have

different properties from the metals that are used to make them. E.g.
steel is an alloy of iron with carbon
When metals react with oxygen they form metal oxides which are almost
always basic (alkaline.) They can neutralise acids.
NB: Not all metals have these properties e.g.
• Mercury has such a low melting point that it is liquid at room

temperature
• Lithium, sodium and potassium have such a low density that they
float on water
What metals are used for

The properties of different metals help to explain what we use them for:
1) Copper is a great conductor of electricity and ductile so we use it to

make copper wiring
2) Steel is strong and malleable so we use it to build huge structures

like bridges and skyscrapers
3) Aluminium is a good conductor of heat with a high melting point so

we make saucepans from it
4) Brass (an alloy of copper and zinc) is shiny so we use it to make

door handles.
5) Gold is shiny and non-reactive so we use it to make jewellery
Ask your child to write a list of the properties of metals with ex-
amples and how they affect their use.

The Periodic Table
Lesson 2: The Properties of Non-Metals
Today’s Important Spellings: Ductile

Conductor
Sonorous
Density
• Copy of the periodic table
Lesson Content
All the elements to the right of the ‘steps’ on this periodic table are
non-metals. They are marked here in yellow. They are often gases like
oxygen or hydrogen or solids with a very high melting point like carbon.
The Periodic Table split into metals and non-metals

The Periodic Table
Characteristics of Non-Metals.
• A low melting point
• Poor conductors of electricity so good insulators
• Dull not shiny
• Non-Ductile (cannot be drawn into wires)
• Low Density (light for their size)

The Periodic Table
• Soft
• Poor conductor of heat
• Breaks easily
• When non-metals react with oxygen they form non-metal oxides

which are almost always acidic e.g. sulphur dioxide helps form acid
rain.
Cut out the cards below and ask your child to arrange them into two
columns – metal and non-metals. Repeat this activity regularly to help re-
inforce their learning.

The Periodic Table
Metals Non-Metals
High Melting Low melting

Point point
Good con- Poor conduc-

ductors of tor of electric-
electricity ity
Shiny Dull
Ductile
(drawn into Non-ductile
wires)

The Periodic Table
High density Low density

(heavy for (light for their
their size) size)
Good con- Poor conduc-
ductors of tors of heat
heat
Malleable
(easily beat- Breaks easily
en into
shape)
Combine with
Strong oxygen to
form acidic
oxides

The Periodic Table
Form oxides
with oxygen.
These are basic
and neutralise
acids
Answers to double check their columns:
Metals Non-Metals
High Melting Point Low melting point
Good conductors of electricity Poor conductor of electricity
Shiny Dull
Ductile (drawn into wires)

Non-ductile
High density (heavy for their size) Low density (light for their size)
Good conductors of heat Poor conductors of heat
Malleable (easily beaten into
shape) Breaks easily
Combine with oxygen to form acid-
Strong ic oxides
Form oxides with oxygen. These
are basic and neutralise acids

The Periodic Table
Lesson 3: Developing and using the Periodic

Table
Today’s Important Spellings: Reactive

Periods Electron shells
Groups
Atomic number
Mendeleev
Lesson Content
The History of the Development of the Periodic Table
The earliest attempt to classify the elements was in 1789, when Antoine
Lavoisier grouped the elements based on their properties into gases,
non-metals, metals and earths. Several other attempts were made to
group elements together over the coming decades.
In 1829, Johann Döbereiner, a German chemist recognised triads of

elements with chemically similar properties, such as lithium, sodium and
potassium, and showed that the properties of the middle element could
be predicted from the properties of the other two.
It was not until a more accurate list of the atomic mass of the elements
became available at a conference in Karlsruhe, Germany in 1860 that
real progress was made towards the discovery of the modern periodic
table.
Dmitri Mendeleev, a Russian chemist, was the first to publish a version

of the table that we would recognise today. He noticed the repeating
properties of elements when they were arranged in order of increasing
atomic mass. He said that not all elements were discovered so he left
spaces in the table so that other elements would fit into a logical pattern

The Periodic Table
of properties. He went on to predict the properties of these undiscovered

elements (which were later proved to be very accurate).
Mendeleev tends to get the credit for the modern periodic table.
The Structure of the Periodic Table

The Periodic Table is a way of listing the elements. Elements are listed
in the table by the structure of their atoms. This includes how many pro-
tons they have as well as how many electrons they have in their outer
shell. From left to right and top to bottom, the elements are listed in the
order of their atomic number, which is the number of protons in each at-
om.

The Periodic Table
Why is it called the Periodic Table?

It is called "periodic" because elements are lined up in cycles or periods.
From left to right elements are lined up in rows based on their atomic
number (the number of protons in their nucleus). Some columns are
skipped in order for elements with the same number of electrons in the
outer shell to line up on the same columns. When they are lined up this
way, elements in the columns have similar properties.
Periods
Each horizontal row in the table is a period. There are seven (or
eight) total periods. The first one is short and only has two elements, hy-
drogen and helium. The sixth period has 32 elements. In each period the
left most element has 1 electron in its outer shell and the right most ele-
ment has a full shell.
Groups
Groups are the columns of the periodic table. There are 18 columns
or groups and different groups have different properties.
The Noble Gases
One example of a group is the noble gases or inert gases. These ele-
ments all line up in the eighteenth or last column of the periodic table.
They all have a full outer shell of electrons, making them very stable
(they tend not to react with other elements).

The Periodic Table
Alkali Metals
Another example is the alkali metals which all align on the left-most
column. They are all very similar in that they have only 1 electron in
their outer shell and are very reactive.
This lining-up and grouping of similar elements helps chemists when

working with elements. They can understand and predict how an element
might react or behave in a certain situation.
To do:
1. Study the large copy of the periodic table with your child.
2. Pick an element at random
3. As them to tell you what group and period it is in
4. Ask them to tell you it’s atomic number
5. You can ask how many electrons it has in its outer shell and
therefore if they predict it will be reactive or unreactive.
An example would be:
1) Carbon
2) Group 4
3) Period 2
4) Atomic number 6
5) 4 in its outer shell (2 in first shell and 4 in outer)

The Periodic Table
6) This makes it half full (out of maximum of 8) so not very reactive
A second example is:
1) Lithium
2) Group 1
3) Period 2
4) Atomic number 3
5) 1 in its outer shell ( 2 in first shell and 1 in second)
6) Very reactive

The Periodic Table
Lesson 4: Using the Periodic Table to make

Predictions
Today’s Important Spellings: Reactive

Periods Electron shells
Groups
Atomic number
Lesson Content
Making predictions using the periodic table
We learnt last lesson that groups in the periodic table contain ele-
ments with similar chemical properties. But there are usually trends in
properties that allow us to make predictions
. For example, in group 1:
Melting point Density Reactivity
Decreases down Increases down Increases down
Lithium
the group the group the group
Sodium
Potassium
Rubidium
Caesium is the next element in group 1, and it can be found below rubid-
ium. You can accurately predict that it will have the lowest melting point,
the highest density and the highest reactivity of all the elements in group
1.

The Periodic Table
All the elements in group 1 react with water to form hydrogen and an al-
kaline solution. The reaction gets faster and more vigorous as we go
down the group so we know that the elements get more reactive as we
go down.
Predictions can also be made going across the periods as well as down
the groups but this is less common.
Chemical Symbols
Now is a good time to help your child to begin to get familiar with the
more common chemical symbols found in the periodic table. The more
they become second nature now- the less they have to learn later at
iGCSE level. Many are obvious- they are the first letter of the name of
the element like H for hydrogen, but some are a bit harder like Fe for iron
or Au for gold. For gold the "Au" comes from the Latin word for gold "au-
rum".
I try to help my children with little silly ideas and patterns to help
them remember. I will put these in brackets in case they are useful to you
but feel free to make up your own. I make up a laminated card game
from the symbols below and we match up the pairs on a regular basis –
the name matched with its chemical symbol. I do the same with simple
compounds too. You could write out the cards or ask your child to do it. I
use different coloured card for the names and the symbols.
We have learnt before that symbols are used by scientists because
• They don’t depend on language spoken
• They save time
• They can be made into formulae to show how many of each type of
atom are bonded into a molecule
Simple, single symbols first:
Hydrogen H
Nitrogen N
Oxygen O
Fluorine F
Carbon C

The Periodic Table
Boron B
Sulfur S
Phosphorus P
First 2 letters:
Helium He
Neon Ne
Lithium Li
Calcium Ca
Aluminium Al
Beryllium Be
Argon Ar
Silicon Si
Slightly trickier:
Chlorine Cl (not Ch as first two letters would be but sounds phonetically
correct)
Magnesium Mg (not Ma as first 2 letters would be)
Potassium K (lots of potassium in bananas after exercise they give you
a kick’ – K for kick)
Sodium Na (sodium chloride is salt – should you eat too much salt?
Naaaaa)
Trickier still:
Iron Fe (iron is a Ferris metal)
Silver Ag (A girl loves a silver locket)
Gold Au (the gold coast in Australia)
Zinc Zn
Mercury Hg (mercury is a liquid at room temperature – if you fell in it
would give you a Hug by wrapping round you)
Copper Cu (an unreactive metal that you could make a Cup from)
Lead Pb (lead pencils are kept in a Pencil box)

The Periodic Table
I make a separate game out of these simple compounds and their

matching names and play it at different times to the elements game.
Sometimes I time them to see how quickly they can match them.
Simple compounds:
The gases are easy as they always ‘hang around in pairs’
Chlorine gas C2
Oxygen gas O2
Hydrogen gas H2
Nitrogen gas N2
Carbon dioxide CO 2
Water H2O
Sodium Chloride (salt) NaCl
Sodium Hydroxide NaOH
Copper Sulphate CuSO 4
Calcium Carbonate CaCO 3
Magnesium Oxide MgO
Copper Oxide CuO
Iron Oxide Fe 2 O 3
The acids are a bit difficult:

Hydrochloric acid HCl
Sulphuric acid H 2 SO 4 (there is an old rhyme for this one….”Alas poor
Johnny he is no more, for what he thought was H 2 O was H 2 SO 4 )
Nitric acid HNO 3

The Periodic Table

The Periodic Table
Periodic Table End of Topic Practise

Questions
1) Copper reacts with oxygen when it is heated in air. Write a word

equation for this reaction
2) Is copper oxide an acid or a base?
3) A mystery element has these characteristics: it is shiny, ductile and

conducts electricity. Is it a metal or a non-metal?
4) On which side of the periodic table would you find it? The left or the
right?
5) What name is given to the group 8 elements – the least reactive

group on the periodic table?
6) Name 2 properties of gold that make it good for making jewellery
a)
b)

The Periodic Table
7) Which Russian chemist is credited for the modern periodic table?
8) In the periodic table the vertical columns are called ………….
9) The horizontal rows are called ……………………..
10) What the names of these elements symbols?

C………………………….
O………………………….
N………………………….
Na…………………………
H…………………………..
He…………………………

The Periodic Table
Period Table End of Topic Practise

Questions
ANSWERS
1) Copper reacts with oxygen when it is heated in air. Write a word

equation for this reaction
Copper + oxygen -> copper oxide
2) Is copper oxide an acid or a base/alkali?

All metal oxides are basic/an alkali. They can neutralise acids
3) A mystery element has these characteristics: it is shiny, ductile

and conducts electricity. Is it a metal or a non-metal?
Metal
4) On which side of the periodic table would you find it? The left or
the right?
The left
5) What name is given to the group 8 elements – the least reactive

group on the periodic table?
The Noble gases
6) Name 2 properties of gold that make it good for making

jewellery
a) shiny
b) non-reactive
or you could say malleable or strong

The Periodic Table
7) Which Russian chemist is credited for the modern periodic

table?
Mendeleev
8) In the periodic table the vertical columns are called groups
9) The horizontal rows are called periods
10) What the names of these elements symbols?

C…carbon
O…oxygen
N…nitrogen
Na…sodium
H…hydrogen
He…helium

Lesson 1: Pure Substances and Mixtures
Today’s Important Spellings: Impure

Pure Element
Compound Mixture
• Access to kitchen to make mixtures
Lesson Content
We call a substance pure if it contains only one chemical compound
or element. If a sample of water is pure it only contains water molecules
and nothing else.
If a substance contains more than one chemical it is a mixture. The sec-

ond chemical may only be present in small amounts and so is called an
impurity.
Mixtures can be found everywhere. Any two or more items that are
combined can be a mixture. The different parts of a mixture can be sepa-
rated out into their individual parts.

Common Mixtures
• Oil and water
• Coffee and sugar
• Cake ingredients
• Sand and water
• Sugar and water
• Sugar and tea
• Salt and water
The air we breathe is another example of a mixture. It is made up of oxy-

gen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide and argon plus other trace gases.
Impurities can be a problem. Sometimes we need things to be really pure

like the metal inside a mobile phone which must be very pure to conduct
electricity effectively.

Ask your child which of these particle diagrams represents a pure

substance.
(The second one is pure as it is only made up of one kind of molecule)
A mixture is made from different substances that are not chemically

joined.
• Heterogeneous and homogeneous refer to mixtures of materials

in chemistry. The difference between heterogeneous and homoge-
neous mixtures is the degree at which the materials are mixed to-
gether and the uniformity of their composition.
A homogeneous mixture is a mixture where the components that

make up the mixture are uniformly distributed throughout the mix-
ture. The composition of the mixture is the same throughout .e.g.
• sugar water
• rain water
• vinegar
• dishwashing detergent
• steel
• air
You can't pick out components of a homogeneous mixture or use a sim-
ple mechanical means to separate them. You can't see individual chemi-
cals or ingredients in this type of mixture. Only one phase of matter is
present in a homogeneous mixture.

A heterogeneous mixture is a mixture where the components of the

mixture are not uniform. Different samples from the mixture are not iden-
tical to each other e.g.
• cereal in milk
• vegetable soup
• ice in drinks
• salad dressing
• mixed nuts
• bowl of coloured sweets
• soil
Usually, it's possible to physically separate components of a heterogene-

ous mixture like these smarties.
A mixture of smarties

It is important to remember that mixtures are different to compounds.
Mixtures e.g. air, sea water

• you can vary the amount of each substance
• the different substances are not chemically joined together
• each substance keeps its own properties
• each substance is easily separated from the mixture
Compounds e.g. water, carbon dioxide

• have a definite composition – you cannot vary how much of the
different substances are in it
• the different elements are chemically joined together
• the compound has properties that are different to the elements
that make it up
• you can only separate it into its elements using chemical reac-
tions
Practical:
Ask your child to make up some mixtures from things they find in the
kitchen. It could be a mixture of dried fruit or salt and water. Anything
they can find. In the next few lessons we will experiment with separating
mixtures so while they are making these mixtures they could begin to
think about how you could separate them.

Lesson 2: Dissolving and making solutions
Today’s Important Spellings: Insoluble

Solution Concentration
Solute Dissolve
Solvent Soluble
• 4 glasses or beakers of water – three hot, one cold
• Fine salt or sugar
• Stirrer or spoon
• Coarse salt or sugar
• Copper sulfate
• 3 Test tubes of warm water
• Test tube rack
Lesson Content
Solutions are homogeneous mixtures. A homogeneous mixture is
a mixture where the components that make up the mixture are uniformly
distributed throughout the mixture. The composition of the mixture is the
same throughout
e.g.
• sugar water
• rain water
The major component is called solvent, and the minor components are
called solute. If both components in a solution are 50%, the term solute
can be assigned to either component. When gas or solid material dis-

solve in a liquid, the gas or solid material is called the solute. When two
liquids dissolve in each other, the major component is called
the solvent and the minor component is called the solute
We are going to make some salt solutions.

Experiment 1:
Does salt dissolve faster in hot or cold water?
To make sure this is a fair test you must use the same volume of water
and the same amount of salt.
Take two beakers of water and add equals volumes of water – one cold,
one hot. Now add an equal amount of fine table salt to each beaker and
stir an equal number of times. Watch what is happening. Does the salt
dissolve faster in hot or cold water?
In this test the water is the solvent and the salt is the solute.
Because the salt seems to ‘disappear’ into the solvent we say that salt is
soluble in water.
Experiment 2:
Does salt dissolve more quickly as large grains or fine powder?
Again to make sure this is a fair test, use the same volume of water and
the same amount of salt and this time you should use water of the same
temperature. The only variable we are changing here is the size of the
salt granules so you should stir the solutions for the same amount of
time.
Take two beakers and add the same volume of water at the same tem-
perature to each. Add the same measure of fine salt to one and coarse
salt to the other. Stir both for the same amount of time and watch what
happens to the salt.
Which is more soluble? Fine or coarse salt?

Is coarse salt insoluble or just less soluble? How do you know?
(fine salt is more soluble, Coarse salt is not insoluble – it does dissolve just less quickly)
Ask your child to write up what they did. They should include a
method, a diagram, their results and a conclusion.
Making Solutions of Copper Sulfate.
Water is colourless and copper sulfate is blue so when you dissolve

copper sulfate in water you get a blue solution. The strength of the colour
depends on how much solute you add.
Add the same volume of water to each of three test tubes in a test tube
rack.
Add 0.5 measure of copper sulfate to the first test tube, 1 to the second
and 2 to the third.
Swirl gently to mix or stir with a glass rod (remember to stir for the same
amount of time)
Now look at your results. You should find that you have a darker solution
when you had more copper sulfate.
You may find that some of the copper sulfate doesn’t dissolve. This just
means that the solution is saturated- that volume of water cannot dis-
solve any more solute.
It is important that your child is confident with these terms:
Solute – the chemical (usually a solid) that is dissolved into the solvent
e.g. in our salt solution the solute was salt
Solvent - the liquid that the solute is dissolved into. In this case water.
Soluble – a solid that can dissolve in a particular solvent e.g. salt is sol-
uble in water

Insoluble – a solid that cannot dissolve in a particular solvent e.g. wax

is insoluble in water.
When a white solute dissolves into a colourless solvent (like salt and wa-
ter) you get a colourless solution. The crystals of solute break into tiny
particles that are too small to see.
Salt dissolves more quickly into hot water than cold and fine salt particles
will dissolve more quickly as they have a greater surface area.

Lesson 3 – Separating Mixtures- Filtration

Solution Dissolve
Solute Soluble
Solvent Filtrate
Residue
• Beaker
• Conical flask
• Funnel
• Filter paper
• Salt
• Sand and water mixture
Lesson Content
When elements undergo chemical reactions they produce a com-
pound. It is very hard to break apart the chemical bonds between atoms
but if substances are mixed together it is usually easier to separate them.
There are different techniques used to separate mixtures and the correct
one to choose depends on the properties of the substances being mixed.
e.g. if you mix sand and iron fillings you can separate the iron from the
sand using a magnet as iron fillings are magnetic and will be attracted to
the magnet.

The five methods we will look at over the next few lessons are:
1. Filtration
2. Evaporation
3. Distillation
4. Fractional Distillation
5. Chromatography
Today we will look at :
Filtration
We use this method if one of the substances in the mixture is
insoluble i.e. it does not dissolve in water. An example of an insoluble
substance is sand.
For a filtration experiment you will need:-
A circle of filter paper
A funnel
A flat bottomed flask
A beaker
A solution of water and sand.
1) Prepare your filter paper as below. When you put it in the funnel
you will have 3 pieces on one side and 1 on the other.

2) Pour your sand and water mixture through the filter paper.
The filter paper will catch the sand which we call the residue but will let
the water drop through (we call this the filtrate). This may take a little
while.

Now you can remove the wet sand and filter paper from the funnel and
lay it on a plate to evaporate the excess water and you will have dry
sand and your water collected in the beaker. You have successfully sep-
arated an insoluble substance from a mixture.
Now repeat the experiment with a few other insoluble things: you
could try lentils or grains of uncooked rice. You should be familiar and
confident with the folding technique.
Ask your child to write up one of their experiments. It should in-

clude:-
1) a method (what they did)
2) a diagram (of how the experiment looked labelled in pencil)
3) results (what they SAW happening)
4) a conclusion – the explanation of what happened using the

words filtrate and residue.

Lesson 4– Separating Mixtures- Evaporation

Solution Dissolve
Solute Soluble
Solvent
• Salt dissolved in water (sodium chloride solution)
• Evaporating dish, tripod, wire gauze (if you have this equipment)
• Burner
If you don’t have an evaporating dish you could use a ramekin on a radi-
ator or sunny windowsill or a test tube and burner with beaker to put it in
when it’s hot and tongs to hold the test tube
Lesson Content
Remember we have learnt: that if substances are mixed together it
is possible to separate them. There are different techniques used to sep-
arate mixtures and the correct one to choose depends on the properties
of the substances being mixed.
The five methods we will look at are:
1. Filtration
2. Evaporation
3. Distillation
5. Chromatography
Today we will look at evaporation.

Evaporation
We use evaporation to separate a solute from a solution when we

don’t need to keep the solvent and we just want the solute. E.g. to get
salt (sodium chloride) out of salt water we can evaporate the water off
and are left with the salt. The water will be ‘lost’ to the air but the salt will
remain in the evaporating dish.
We know from our experiments that salt dissolves in water. Now we have
‘salty water’ but how do we get the salt back out?
You will need to heat the solution and allow the water to evaporate
off. If you have an evaporating dish, burner, tripod and wire gauze then
this is the time to use it! If not, then do study the method and be confi-
dent that you can explain it.
1) Pour some of the salt solution into the evaporating dish
2) Put the dish onto the wire gauze which should rest on the top of the
tripod
3) Use a spirit burner to gently heat the evaporating dish – NB you will
need to rest it on a wooden block to lift it to the height of a Bunsen
burner

4) Evaporate half the solvent and turn off the burner
5) Leave the evaporating dish in a warm place to evaporate the rest

of the water
6) The crystals you are left with will be salt (sodium chloride)
This is equipment is drawn like this:
NB: It is possible to actually carry out this experiment in a number of

other ways. You could pour some salt solution into a small dish or rame-
kin and leave it on a radiator or sunny window sill. The water will evapo-
rate away but it will be slower. A fast version is to pour some salt water
into a test tube with a small piece of broken clay pot (to stop it jumping
out too much) and heat carefully over a burner until the water has evapo-
rated. The white solid left in your test tube is salt. The same can be done
in a small pan on the cooker.
Ask your child to write up their experiment. It should include:-
3) results (what they SAW happening)
4) and a conclusion – the explanation of what happened using the

words solution, solute and solvent.

Lesson 5– Separating Mixtures- Distillation

and Fractional Distillation
Today’s Important Spellings: Condenser

Solution Thermometer
Solute Distillate
Solvent
It is unlikely that you have the equipment necessary for distillation so
here we will study the experiment on YouTube
Lesson Content
1. Filtration
2. Evaporation
3. Distillation
5. Chromatography
Today we will look at distillation and fractional distillation.

Distillation
Distillation is used when we want to separate two liquids that have

different boiling points or it can be used to separate a solvent from a so-
lute when you want to keep the solvent.
The equipment needed for distillation
Take some time to study this equipment before we look at it in action

on YouTube.

Method:
1) Put the solution to be separated into the flask
2) Connect a condenser to the side of the flask. The cold water

always enters from the bottom of the condenser and leaves at
the top
3) Place a flask to collect the distillate at the lower end of the

condenser
4) Heat the mixture until the liquid boils. As it passes into the
condenser, it is cooled by the water running around the outside and
changes back from a gas into a liquid. It drips out of the end of the
condenser and into the collecting beaker.
The principle of this method uses changes of state – the original solution
is heated and changes from a liquid to a gas. Instead of being lost into
the air this gas is trapped inside the system. The thermometer is there to
tell you which gas is being produced as we know that water boils at 100
degreesC so when the thermometer reaches that we can start collecting
the distillate. The gas moves out of the flask, down the tube and as it
moves down it is cooled by the water passing around the tube and
changes back from a gas into a liquid. This liquid drips out of the end of
the tube and is collected. We call this the distillate.
Now watch it in action on YouTube. You may choose to watch it

more than once to make sure you child is confident about what is hap-
pening.
http://www.echo.education/url/distillation
Ask your child to print out or copy the diagram and explain the meth-
od involved in distillation.

Fractional Distillation
If a mixture contains a number of liquids that have different boiling points
we can collect each separating using the same basic apparatus. The
thermometer tells you which liquid is boiling because each liquid has a
unique boiling point and you collect that distillate. Once that has been
used up, the thermometer will rise until the next liquid evaporates. You
change the collection flask and collect this distillate separately.
This is used in industry for example crude oil contains petrol, diesel and
other liquids. We use a large, industrial sized fractional distillatory to
separate the liquids.
Watch this YouTube clip to see how it is done.
http://www.echo.education/url/fractionaldistillation

Lesson 6– Separating Mixtures-

Chromatography

Solution
Solute
Solvent
 Beaker
 Filter/chromatography paper
 Selection of food colourings or coloured felt tip pens
Lesson Content
1. Filtration
2. Evaporation
3. Distillation
5. Chromatography
Today we will look at the final method: chromatography

Chromatography
We use chromatography to separate different solutes that are dis-
solved in the same solvent. It is an easy way to separate food colour
pigments or the colour pigments that make up black felt tip pens. It is the
method used in sport to test the urine of sportspeople to make sure they
are not taking illegal drugs to enhance their performance.
You will need:
A beaker, filter or chromatography paper cut into a strip and attach to a

skewer or lollypop stick, water and something to test – a black pen or
food colouring.
1) On a strip of chromatography paper, draw a horizontal line with a

pencil approximately 2cm above the bottom edge of the paper.
Attach to a skewer or lollypop stick.
2) On this line, put a small spot of the coloured mixture that you want
to separate. Make this as small but intense as you can- reapply it a
few times.
3) If your strip is wide enough you can put other dots along this line of
different colours.

4) Pour water into a beaker until it is about 1cm deep.
5) Place the piece of chromatography paper into the beaker hanging it

from the stick resting across the top of the beaker and so it doesn’t
touch the side. The dots need to be above the top of the solvent
water or they will just wash away the colour.
6) The solvent rises up the paper and separates out the pigments in
the mixture. You can see if any of the pigments from the mixture
match the colour and heights of the pure colour pigments you
included in your experiment.
7) Repeat this experiment with other colour pens or food colourings.
You can dry these results and stick them into your write up as part
of your results.
Ask your child to write up one of their experiments. It should include:-

3) results (what they SAW happening) Stick in your dried paper

results
4) and a conclusion – the explanation of what happened explaining

that the solvents travels up the paper and dissolves the colour
pigments as it travels and carries it with it. Different colours will
stop at different heights.

Lesson 7- Testing for purity- Melting and

Boiling Points
Today’s Important Spellings: Boiling points

Solution Melting points
Pure Impurities
• Ice in a beaker
• Test tube with water and piece of clay pot to prevent too violent a
reaction or a saucepan of boiling water.
• Thermometer
Lesson Content
It is often really important that we are sure certain substances are
pure. Here are some examples of situations where purity is vital:
1. Impurities in food additives could be poisonous
2. Impurities in medicine could be harmful to the patient
3. Impurities in useful products like the copper metal components in

computers might affect their effectiveness. If a copper wire contains
more than one atom of an impurity in a thousand atoms of copper
and it will not conduct electricity well enough to be used.
Melting and Boiling Point are tests of Purity.
A pure sample of an element or a compound has a definite melting

point and a definite boiling point (under normal atmospheric pressure)

A mixture containing impurities is likely to melt or boil at a different tem-

perature to the pure substance and possibly over a range of tempera-
tures.
Fixed Boiling points:

Pure water boils at 100 degreesC
Pure ice melts at 0 degreesC
Your child can test this with a thermometer. Get a cup of ice and as it
melts hold the thermometer in the melting ice. Boil some water in a test
tube or in a saucepan on the stove. Use a thermometer to test the boiling
point.
If an impurity like salt is added to the water it will melt at a lower tem-
perature and boil at a higher temperature.
Your chid can test this theory too by repeating the thermometer ex-
periment using water that has had salt dissolved into it. Does the boiling
point change?
A graph to show how the melting and boiling points of pure and salt water dif-
fer

It is very useful in winter to know this as adding salt to icy roads in

the winter causes the ice to melt and prevents it refreezing.
Impurities can also be detected in samples using sensitive tests. Chro-

matography can be used to detect impurities in many chemicals. Scien-
tists also use mass spectrometry and infra-red spectroscopy

Lesson 6– Separating Mixtures-

Chromatography

Solution
Solute
Solvent
 Beaker
 Filter/chromatography paper
 Selection of food colourings or coloured felt tip pens
Lesson Content
1. Filtration
2. Evaporation
3. Distillation
5. Chromatography
Today we will look at the final method: chromatography

Chromatography
We use chromatography to separate different solutes that are dis-
solved in the same solvent. It is an easy way to separate food colour
pigments or the colour pigments that make up black felt tip pens. It is the
method used in sport to test the urine of sportspeople to make sure they
are not taking illegal drugs to enhance their performance.
You will need:
A beaker, filter or chromatography paper cut into a strip and attach to a

skewer or lollypop stick, water and something to test – a black pen or
food colouring.
1) On a strip of chromatography paper, draw a horizontal line with a

pencil approximately 2cm above the bottom edge of the paper.
Attach to a skewer or lollypop stick.
2) On this line, put a small spot of the coloured mixture that you want
to separate. Make this as small but intense as you can- reapply it a
few times.
3) If your strip is wide enough you can put other dots along this line of
different colours.

4) Pour water into a beaker until it is about 1cm deep.
5) Place the piece of chromatography paper into the beaker hanging it

from the stick resting across the top of the beaker and so it doesn’t
touch the side. The dots need to be above the top of the solvent
water or they will just wash away the colour.
6) The solvent rises up the paper and separates out the pigments in
the mixture. You can see if any of the pigments from the mixture
match the colour and heights of the pure colour pigments you
included in your experiment.
7) Repeat this experiment with other colour pens or food colourings.
You can dry these results and stick them into your write up as part
of your results.
Ask your child to write up one of their experiments. It should include:-

3) results (what they SAW happening) Stick in your dried paper

results
4) and a conclusion – the explanation of what happened explaining

that the solvents travels up the paper and dissolves the colour
pigments as it travels and carries it with it. Different colours will
stop at different heights.

Pure and Impure Substances End of Topic

Practise Questions
These practise questions can be presented to your child in any way
that is appropriate – you could do a fun quiz style, a ‘pick a question from
a box type quiz, an oral ‘let’s have a go at these together’ style or as a
test of what they have understood by setting as a ‘test’. It is entirely up to
1) What do we call a substance that only contains one element or

compound?
2) Name two gases we find in the mixture of air we breathe

a)
b)
3) Name an example of where an impurity could be dangerous
4) What is a solute?
5) What is a solvent?
6) What do we mean by something is ‘soluble in water’?

7) What could we do to a solution to speed up the rate that a

substance dissolves in it?
8) Which separation technique would you use for separating our 2

liquids that are mixed together?
9) Which separation technique would you use to separate water and

gravel?
10) If you gave you a sample of seawater and asked you to

remove the salt how would you do it?
11) What is this process called?

12) Which of these is a pure liquid?
13) How could you test to see if this distilled water is actually
pure?

Pure and Impure Substances End of Topic

Practise Questions
ANSWERS
1) What do we call a substance that only contains one element or

compound?
Pure
2) Name two gases we find in the mixture of air we breathe

a)oxygen
b)nitrogen or carbon dioxide
3) Name an example of where an impurity could be dangerous

Medicine or food additives or metals in mobiles and laptops
4) What is a solute?
A chemical dissolved into a solvent
5) What is a solvent?
The liquid that a solute is dissolved in
6) What do we mean by something is ‘soluble in water’?

It dissolves into the liquid
7) What could we do to a solution to speed up the rate that a

substance dissolves in it?
Heat it
8) Which separation technique would you use for separating our 2

liquids that are mixed together?
Distillation

9) Which separation technique would you use to separate water and

gravel?
Filtration
10) If you gave you a sample of seawater and asked you to
remove the salt how would you do it?
I would heat it to boil off the water and you would be left with the
salt.
11) What is this process called?

Chromatography
12) Which of these is a pure liquid?
Distilled water
13) How could you test to see if this distilled water is actually
pure?
I would boil it and check the temperature when it boils. If it is exact-
ly 100 degrees C then it is pure water

Lesson 1: Constructing a Reactivity Series-

Reactions with Water

Reactivity series
Lesson Content
We have learnt that by studying patterns in the characteristics of
elements in the periodic table, we can make predictions about other ele-
ments based on where we find them in relation to the first element. Pre-
dictions can be made up and down groups and to a lesser extent across
periods too.
If we look at metals we can observe how they react to put them in order
of how much they react – we call this the reactivity series.
Reacting Metals with Water

If we put small pieces of all these metals into separate test tubes of wa-
ter we can note what happens:

Metal Reaction with water
Magnesium After a few minutes, tiny bubbles

appear on the surface of the metal
Calcium After a few seconds, the metal be-
gins to fizz with tiny bubbles
Potassium Very fast reaction. The metal gave
off sparks and a gas is produced
which burns.
Lithium Fast reaction. The metal gave off a
gas quickly
Sodium Very fast reaction giving off gas
very quickly
Zinc No reaction visible
Copper No reaction visible
We can use this information to put these metals into the order of reactivi-
ty…..
The biggest reaction- the most reactive metal was Potassium. The least
two reactive were zinc and copper. The other fit in between in this order:
1. Potassium – the strongest reaction
2. Sodium – a very quick reaction
3. Lithium – a fast reaction
4. Calcium –the reaction took a few seconds
5. Magnesium – the reaction took a few minutes and was no

vigorous
6. Zinc and copper- no visible reaction in either so we don’t have

enough information to separate them

They fit within this larger reactivity series:
Ask your child some questions using the above list – e.g.
• which metals are more reactive than aluminium?
• Which is more reactive sodium or zinc?
• Why do we make jewellery out of platinum?
• Should we put pure potassium into water? Why not?


Lesson 2: Reactions with Dilute Acids

Reactivity series
• 3 test tubes
• Test tube rack
• Hydrochloric acid
• Magnesium ribbon – 1cm piece
• Zinc pellets
• Copper foil- small 1cm x 1cm piece
Lesson Content
We have looked at how some metals react with water. Those that do
not react violently can be tested in dilute acid instead. This will often get
a stronger reaction that water.
We will test three metals low down the reactivity series – zinc, copper
and magnesium.
Experiment Time!
Method
Put three test tubes into a test tube rack and put 2cm of dilute hydrochlo-
ric acid into each.
To one add the 1 cm piece of magnesium, to the second the piece of

copper foil and to the third a few zinc pellets. Watch for any reactions.
It may take some time for the reaction to begin.

Results:
You will probably find that the copper gives no visible reaction as is the
lowest on the reactivity series.
The zinc may show tiny bubbles – there is some gas being produced.
The magnesium will show the strongest reaction – you should see bub-
bles of gas being produced and the reaction liquid may feel hot (as it is
an exothermic reaction)
These metals can now be ordered most to least reactive –
1. Magnesium
2. Zinc
3. Copper
Ask your child to write out the metals in this reactivity series on sep-
arate pieces of card and without looking they should arrange them in or-
der of reactivity. They should check their answers with the list and
change any that are not correct.

Lesson 3: Displacement Reactions

Displacement reactions
Reaction
• Copper sulphate
• Water
• Zinc pellets
Lesson Content
Watch this YouTube clip to explain Displacement Reactions (13mins)
http://www.echo.education/url/displacementreactions
In displacement reactions, a more reactive element displaces or

pushes out a less reactive element from a compound.
A cartoon to illustrate displacement!

Displacement reactions can help us to confirm the reactivity series as an

element above another will displace it.
Zinc is more reactive than copper so it will displace it
Zinc + copper sulphate -> Zinc sulphate + copper
The zinc displaces the copper and pushes it out of the compound.
Experiment time
1. You can test this by making a solution of copper sulphate in a test
tube using one scoop of copper sulphate and 2 cm3 of water. Stir to
dissolve the solid. This will be blue solution.
2. Add some small pellets of zinc
3. The zinc will displace the copper so the blue colour will fade as
zinc sulphate is colourless.
When deciding which metal will displace another you just need to focus
on the metal part of the compound- it does not matter whether it is a
metal chloride, sulphate or nitrate. It is the metal which displaces anoth-
er.
Ask your child to study this table and work out which is the most and
least reactive metals :
Copper sul- Zinc Sulphate Magnesium

phate sulphate
xxxxxxxxxxx No reaction No reaction

Copper
Copper dis- xxxxxxxxxxxx No reaction

Zinc placed
Copper dis- Zinc displaced xxxxxxxxxxx

Magnesium placed

Lesson 4: Extracting Metals
Today’s Important Spellings: Unreactive

Extraction Displace
Electrolysis
Reactive
Lesson Content
Most of the world’s metals are found in the Earth’s crust bonded to
other elements in compounds. To get the pure metal we need to extract
it.
The principle is to displace the metal we want to remove with a more re-
active metal.
This reactivity series includes two elements written in red – these are
non-metals but are used to extract some metals e.g. carbon is added to
iron oxide to extract iron and produce carbon dioxide. They can only be
use to displace elements beneath them in the list.

The method used to extract metals from the ore in which they are found
depends on their reactivity. For example, reactive metals above carbon,
such as aluminium, are extracted by electrolysis. This uses an electric
current to split a compound into its elements. This needs a lot of energy
and so is one of the reasons that these elements are expensive.
Electrolysis

What about the very unreactive metals like gold and

platinum?
These unreactive metals are so unreactive that they do not form com-
pounds easily with other elements. So we tend to find them as pure ele-
ments in the Earth’s crust. These are expensive metals because they are
rare.
Gold nuggets
Panning for gold
If your child would be interested to watch this long YouTube clip on

metal extraction it can be found here. It is 18 minutes long but an inter-
esting documentary
http://www.echo.education/url/extractingmetals

Reactivity Series End of Topic Practise

Questions
1) Are metals more reactive in water or acid?
2) Put these metals in order of reactivity – most reactive first
Zinc sodium gold
3) Reactive metals are extracted by electricity in a process

called……………?
4) Name a non-metal that can be used to extract metals from metal

ores
5) How do we get pure platinum from the Earth’s crust?
6) What would you expect to see happen to the blue copper sulfate in
this experiment? Why?
iron + copper(II) sulfate iron sulfate + copper.

7) If a less reactive metal is added to a metal salt solution what will

happen?

Reactivity Series End of Topic Practise

Questions
ANSWERS
1) Are metals more reactive in water or acid?
Acid
2) Put these metals in order of reactivity – most reactive first
Zinc sodium gold
Sodium then zinc then gold
3) Reactive metals are extracted by electricity in a process

called……………?
Electrolysis
4) Name a non-metal that can be used to extract metals from metal

ores
Carbon or hydrogen
5) How do we get pure platinum from the Earth’s crust?
We find it in pure form as it is too unreactive to combine with other

elements in compounds
6) What would you expect to see happen to the blue copper sulfate
in this experiment? Why?
iron + copper(II) sulfate iron sulfate + copper.

The blue colour will fade as the copper is displaced by the iron
7) If a less reactive metal is added to a metal salt solution what will

happen?
Nothing

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Key Stage 3

Welcome to Echo Education

It is formatted in a way that allows you to use it in whichever way best

© Echo Education Key Stage 3 Science Course Page 1 of 5

We have included answers to any questions you are asked to pose to

All subjects in key stage 3 science can be reinforced and supported by

Each lesson has a list of suggested resources at the beginning – these

© Echo Education Key Stage 3 Science Course Page 2 of 5

We have made the lessons as practical as possible and have included

Clare and Sam

© Echo Education Key Stage 3 Science Course Page 3 of 5

Suggested science equipment purchases

1) Microscope e.g Amazon

2) Chemistry set e.g. Amazon

3) Resource box: We have asked the science providers ‘Kitchen

125ml Methylated spirits for use in spirit burners

© Echo Education Key Stage 3 Science Course Page 4 of 5

125ml 6% hydrogen peroxide solution

20g Iron filings

Do contact them directly at kitchenchemistry@btinternet.com

4) Electronics kit e.g. Amazon £34

5) Magnet set e.g. Amazon £13

© Echo Education Key Stage 3 Science Course Page 5 of 5

© Echo Education 2015

Pre-IGCSE/Key Stage 3 Chemistry Course

Topics covered by this course:

• States of Matter – Solids, Liquids and Gases

• Atoms and Molecules

and Atomic Structure

• Elements and Compounds

• End of topic questions

Pure and Impure Substances

• Pure substances and mixtures

• Dissolving and making solutions

• Separating Mixtures- filtration

• Separating Mixtures- Evaporation

• Separating Mixtures – Distillation and fractional distillation

• Separating Mixtures - Chromatography

• Testing for purity- Melting and Boiling Points

• End of topic questions

© Echo Education Chemistry Contents KS3 Page 1 of 3

• Chemical Equations- Word Equations

• Chemical equations- Symbol Equations and Balancing Equations

• Energy in Chemical Reactions- Exothermic reactions

• Endothermic Reactions and Combustion

• Oxidation and Reduction

• The speed of reactions and catalysts

• End of topic questions

Acids and Alkalis

• Acids and Alkalis and the pH scale

• Reactions of Acids with alkalis

• Reactions of Acids with Metals and how to name salts

• Reactions of acids with metal oxides

• Reactions of acid with metal carbonates

• End of topic questions

The Periodic Table

• Developing and using the Periodic Table

© Echo Education Chemistry Contents KS3 Page 2 of 3

• The Structure of the Periodic Table

• Using the Periodic Table to make Predictions

• End of topic questions

The Reactivity Series

• Constructing a Reactivity Series- reactions with water